m 


THE  GATELESS  BARRIER 


By  the  same  author 
THE    WAGES    OF   SIN 
THE    CARISSIMA 
MRS.    LORIMER 
A  COUNSEL   OF   PERFECTION 
COLONEL    ENDERBY'S    WIFE 
LITTLE    PETER 


The 

Gate  less  Barrier 


By 
LUCAS     MALET 


NEW    YORK 

DODD,  MEAD  tf  COMPANY 

1900 


Copyright,  /poo,  by  DODD, 
MEAD    AND    COMPANY 


UNIVERSITY    PRESS       •      JOHN    WILSON 
AND     SON      •     CAMBRIDGE,     U.S.A. 


Preface 


"  ^W 'W"  THAT  is  the  book?" 

^/%/  "According  to  the  Japanese 
pronunciation  of  the  Chinese 
characters  of  the  title,  we  call  it  Mu-Mon-Kwan, 
which  means  'The  Gateless  Barrier.'  It  is  one 
of  the  books  especially  studied  by  the  Zen 
sect,  or  the  sect  of  Dhyana.  A  peculiarity  of 
some  of  the  Dhyana  texts  —  this  (story)  being 
a  good  example  —  is  that  they  are  not  explana- 
tory. They  only  suggest.  Questions  are  put, 
but  the  student  must  think  out  the  answers 
for  himself.  He  must  think  them  out  but  not 
write  them.  You  know  that  Dhyana  repre- 
sents human  effort  to  reach,  through  medita- 
tion, zones  of  thouglu^e^pji/i,  fcjie  range  of 


vi  Preface 

verbal  expression;  and  any  thought  narrowed 
into  utterance  loses  all  Dhyana  quality.  .  .  . 
Well,  this  story  is  supposed  to  be  true ;  but  it 
is  used  only  for  a  Dhyana  question.  .  .  ." 

LAFCADIO    HEARN. 

"  Exotics  and  Retrospectives," 
pages  83,  84. 


The  Gateless  Barrier 


LAURENCE  leaned  his  arms  upon 
the  broad  wooden  hand-rail  of  the 
bulwarks.  The  water  hissed  away 
from  the  side.  Immediately  below 
it  was  laced  by  shifting  patterns  of  white 
foam,  and  stained  pale  green,  violet,  and 
amber,  by  the  light  shining  out  through  the 
rounds  of  the  port-poles.  Further  away  it 
showed  blue  black,  but  for  a  glistening  on  the 
hither  side  of  the  vast  ridge  and  furrow.  The 
smoke  from  the  funnels  streamed  afar,  and 
was  upturned  by  a  following  wind.  The 
great  ship  swung  in  the  trough,  and  then 
lifted  —  as  a  horse  lifts  at  a  fence  —  while  the 
seas  slid  away  from  under  her  keel.  As  she 
lifted,  her  masts  raked  the  blue-black  night 
sky,  and  the  stars  danced  in  the  rigging. 

This  was  the  first  time  since  his  marriage, 
nearly  two  years  before,  that  Laurence  found 
himself  alone  and  altogether  his  own  master. 
His  marriage  was  a  notable  success  —  every 


2         The  Gateless  Barrier 

one  said  so,  and  he  himself  had  never  doubted 
the  fact  so  far.  Yet  this  solitary  voyage,  this 
temporary  return  to  bachelorhood,  possessed 
compensations.  He  reproached  himself,  as  in 
duty  bound,  for  being  sensible  of  those  com- 
pensations. He  excused  himself  to  himself. 
He  gave  reasons.  Doubtless  his  present 
sense  of  freedom  and  content  took  its  rise 
not  in  his  enforced  absence  from  Virginia, 
from  her  bright  continuous  talk,  her  innu- 
merable and  perfectly  constructed  dresses,  her 
perpetual  and  skilful  activities  ;  but  in  his 
escape  from  the  highly  artificial  and  material- 
ised society  in  which  she  lived  and  moved 
and  had  her  being.  Laurence  had  certainly 
no  ostensible  cause  of  complaint  against  that 
society.  Its  members  had  recited  his  verses, 
given  a  charming  performance  of  his  little 
comedy  —  in  the  interests  of  a  deserving 
charity — quoted  his  opinions  on  literature 
and  politics,  and  waxed  enthusiastic  over  his 
strokes  at  golf  and  his  style  at  rackets  and 
polo.  He  had,  in  fact,  been  the  spoilt  child 
of  two  New  York  winters  and  two  Newport 
summers.  No  Englishman,  he  was  repeatedly 
assured,  had  ever  been  so  popular  among  the 


The  Gateless  Barrier        3 

"smart  set"  of  the  great  republic.  It  had 
petted  and  feted  him,  and  finally  given  him 
one  of  its  fairest  daughters  to  wife.  And  for 
all  this  Laurence  Rivers  was  sincerely  grate- 
ful. His  vanity  was  most  agreeably  flattered. 
His  natural  love  both  of  pleasing  and  of 
pleasure  was  well  satisfied.  Yet  —  such  is  the 
perversity  of  human  nature  —  the  very  com-  £ 
pleteness  of  his  success  'i'-nded  to  lessen  the 
worth  of  it.  He  even  questioned,  at  mo- 
ments, whether  that  success  did  not  offer  the 
measure  of  surrounding  immaturity  of  taste 
and  judgment,  rather  than  of  the  greatness 
of  his  personal  talent  and  merit.  He  was 
haunted  by  the  conviction  that  he  had  never 
yet  given  his  best,  the  highest  and  strongest 
of  his  nature,  either  in  thought,  or  art,  or 
adventure,  or  even  —  perhaps  —  he  feared 
it  —  in  love.  The  demand  had  been  for 
a  thoroughly  presentable  and  immediately 
marketable  article  ;  and  the  Best  is  usually  far-" 
from  marketable,  often  but  doubtfully  pre- 
sentable either.  It  followed  that  Laurence 
had,  almost  of  necessity,  kept  the  best  of 
himself  to  himself — kept  it  to  himself  so 
effectually  that  he  had  come  uncommonly 


4         'The  Gateless  Barrier 

near  forgetting  its  existence  altogether,  and 
letting  it  perish  for  lack  of  air  and  exercise. 

Now  leaning  his  arms  upon  the  hand-rail 
of  the  bulwarks,  while  the  stars  danced  in  the 
rigging,  and  the  great  ship  ploughed  her  way 
eastward  across  the  mighty  ridge  and  furrow 
of  the  Atlantic,  gratified  vanity  ceased  to  ob- 
tain in  him.  His  thoughts  travelled  back  to 
periods  of  his  career  at  once  more  obscure 
and  more  ambitious  —  to  the  few  vital  rap- 
tures, the  few  fine  failures,  the  few  illuminat- 
ing aspirations  which  he  had  known.  The 
bottom  dropped  out  of  the  social  side  of 
things,  so  to  speak.  He  looked  below  super- 
ficial appearances  into  the  heart  of  it  all.  Life 
put  off  its  cheap  frippery  of  fancy  dress, 
Death  its  cunningly  devised  concealments 
and  evasions.  Backed  by  the  immensities  of 
sea  and  sky,  both  stood  before  him  naked 
and  unashamed,  in  all  their  primitive  and 
eternal  vigour,  their  uncompromising  actual- 
ity, their  inviolable  mystery  ;  while,  with  a 
sudden  and  searching  apprehension  of  the 
profound  import  of  the  question,  Rivers  asked 
himself — 

"What   shall    it    profit    a    man  —  what    in 


'The  Gateless  Barrier        5 

good  truth — if  he  gain  the  whole  world  and 
lose  his  own  soul  ?" 

He  had  been  summoned  to  England  by  the 
illness  of  an  uncle  whose  estates  and  consider- 
able wealth  he  would  inherit.  That  illness 
had  been  pronounced  incurable ;  but  the  ap- 
proaching death  of  this  near  relation  made 
small  demand  upon  his  intimate  feelings.  A 
decent  seriousness  of  thought  and  speech, 
concerning  the  impending  event,  were  all  that 
could  reasonably  be  required  of  him  ;  for  the 
elder  Mr.  Rivers  was  both  morose  and  eccen- 
tric, and  had  given  his  nephew  a  handsome 
allowance  on  the  express  understanding  that  he 
saw  as  little  of  him  as  possible.  A  declared 
misogynist,  he  had  received  the  announcement 
of  Laurence's  proposed  marriage  with  an  exas- 
perating mixture  of  contempt  and  approval. 

"  I  am  sincerely  sorry  for  you,"  he  had 
written  on  this  occasion.  "  The  more  so  that 
you  appear  to  labour  under  the  impression 
that  the  step  you  have  in  contemplation  is 
calculated  to  secure  your  happiness.  This, 
you  must  pardon  my  remarking,  is  obviously 
absurd.  I  grant  that  you  are  under  a  moral 
obligation  to  perpetuate  our  family  and  secure 


6         The  Gateless  Barrier 

the  succession  to  our  estates  in  the  direct  line. 
I  cannot,  therefore,  but  be  glad  that  you 
should  adopt  the  recognised  means  to  attain 
the  above  ends.  I  should,  however,  respect 
both  your  motives  and  your  intelligence  more 
highly  had  you  done  this  in  a  rational  and 
scientific  spirit,  without  indulgence  in  senti- 
mental illusions  which  every  sane  student  of 
human  history  has  long  since  perceived  to  be 
as  pernicious  to  the  moral,  as  they  are  ener- 
vating to  the  mental  health.  I  could  say 
much  worthy  of  your  attention  upon  this 
point ;  but,  in  your  present  condition  of 
emotional  inebriation,  it  would  be  a  waste  of 
energy  on  my  part,  —  I  might  add,  a  throw- 
ing of  pearls  before  swine.  Still,  justice,  my 
dear  Laurence,  compels  me  to  own  that,  even 
so,  I  must  ever  consider  myself  in  a  measure 
your  debtor,  since  the  fact  of  your  existence, 
your  remarkably  sound  physical  condition, 
your  normal  and  slightly  unintelligent  out- 
look on  life,  have  combined  to  relieve  me  of 
the  odious  necessity  of  sacrificing  my  time  and 
my  personal  liberty  to  the  interests  of  our 
family,  by  entering  into  those  domestic  rela- 
tions, which  you  appear  to  regard  with  as  much 


The  Gate/ess  Barrier        j 

thoughtless   complacency  as    I   with   reasoned 
repulsion  and  distrust." 

This  being  the  attitude  of  the  elder  Mr. 
Rivers's  mind,  it  followed  that  when,  by  his 
request,  Mr.  Wormald,  the  family  solicitor, 
summoned  his  nephew  and  heir  to  attend  his 
deathbed,  the  young  man's  wife  was  not  in- 
cluded in  that  gloomy  invitation.  And  this 
Laurence  could  not  by  any  means  honestly 
regret.  Virginia  at  a  disadvantage  was  an 
idea  almost  inconceivable.  Yet  so  immediate 
and  concrete  a  being  would  not,  he  felt,  shade 
quite  gracefully  into  the  mortuary  landscape. 
She  would  not  suit  it,  neither  would  it  suit 
her.  For  she  was  almost  amazingly  in 
harmony  with  her  modern,  mundane  en- 
vironment ;  and,  save  in  the  way  of  costly 
mourning  costumes,  it  seemed  incredible  that 
death  should  have  any  dominion  over  her. 
It  struck  him,  moreover,  that  if  he  gauged 
the  position  aright,  Virginia,  notwithstanding 
her  many  charms  and  much  cleverness,  would 
have  to  take  a  back  seat  in  his  eccentric 
uncle's  establishment.  And  Virginia  in  a 
back  seat  was  again  an  idea  almost  incon- 
ceivable. So  he  said  — 


8         The  Gateless  Barrier 

"  It 's  an  awful  nuisance  to  have  to  leave 
you  like  this,  but  this  is  going  to  be  a  pretty 
dismal  bit  of  business  anyhow.  I'd  much 
better  just  worry  through  it  alone.  You  '11 
join  me  later  when  it's  all  over,  and  we  are 
free  to  take  possession  and  knock  the  place  in 
shape.  Stoke  Rivers  is  really  rather  delight- 
ful, though  it  is  not  very  large.  There  used 
to  be  some  good  pictures  and  books  and 
things  in  it  I  remember.  I  believe  my  uncle 
is  a  virtuoso  in  his  way,  though  he  is  such 
a  cross-grained  old  chap.  You'll  enjoy  the 
place,  at  all  events  for  a  few  months  every 
year,  I  think,  Virginia.  And  you  can  have 
all  your  own  people  over  in  turn,  you  know  ; 
and  show  them  how  the  savage  English  do  it 
in  their  savage  little  island.  You  '11  make  the 
neighbourhood  sit  up,  I  fancy.  It  '11  be 
amusing." 

But  as  Laurence  leaned  his  arms  upon  the 
broad  hand-rail  of  the  bulwarks,  in  the  chill 
of  the  March  night,  while  the  water  hissed 
away  from  the  side,  and  the  engines  drummed 
and  pounded,  and  the  bows  of  the  great  ship 
lifted  against  the  far,  blue-black  horizon,  he 
began  to  wonder  whether  he  had  not  been 


Gateless  Barrier 


somewhat  over  hasty  in  proposing  chronic 
invasion  of  Stoke  Rivers  by  all  Virginia's 
smart  friends  in  turn.  They  -were  well-bred, 
hospitable,  amusing,  very  much  up-to-date. 
He  owed  them  thanks  for  a  most  uncom- 
monly good  time.  But  they  seemed  a  trifle 
thin,  a  trifle  superficial  and  ephemeral  just 
now,  in  face  of  the  immensities  of  ocean  and» 
sky,  and  of  the  ancient  mysteries  of  Life  and 
Death. 


II 

NOT  .until  after  dinner,  on  the  even- 
ing of  his  arrival,  was  Laurence 
admitted  to  his  uncle's  presence. 
The  aspect  of  the  room  was  rich 
though  sombre.  Long  in  proportion  to  its 
width,  with  a  low,  heavily-moulded  ceiling, 
the  walls  of  it  were  panelled  in  black  oak  three 
parts  of  their  height.  The  space  between  the 
top  of  the  panelling  and  the  cornice  was 
hung  with  dark  blue  silk-damask,  narrow 
diagonal  lines  of  yellow  crossing  the  back- 
ground of  the  raised  pattern.  The  short,  full 
curtains  drawn  over  the  wide  window  were  of 
the  same  handsome  material.  So  were  the 
counterpane  and  hangings  of  the  half-tester, 
ebony  bed.  This  last  was  elaborately  carved. 
Two  couchant  sphinxes,  the  polished  surface 
of  whose  cup-like  breasts  glowed  in  the  fire- 
light, supported  the  footboard,  as  did  a 
couple  of  caryatides  —  naked  to  the  loins  — 
the  canopy.  Near  the  fireplace  stood  an  oaken 
table,  on  which  lay  a  few  well-bound  books. 
The  further  end  of  it  was  covered  by  a  cloth 
of  gold  and  crimson  embroidery  —  evidently 


The  Gateless  Barrier       n 

fashioned  from  some  priestly  vestment  —  upon 
which  rested  a  memento  rnori,  about  four  inches 
in  height,  cut  out  of  a  solid  block  of  rock 
crystal,  the  olive  crown  which  encircled  the 
brow  being  of  pale,  green  jade. 

In  a  deep-seated,  high-backed  arm-chair  — 
placed  between  the  table  and  the  outstanding 
pillars  of  the  chimney  piece  —  propped  up  by 
dark  silken  pillows,  his  spare  frame  wrapped 
in  a  long,  fur-lined,  violet,  cloth  dressing- 
gown,  a  violet,  velvet  skull-cap  on  his  head, 
sat  Mr.  Rivers. 

Laurence,  who  had  not  seen  his  uncle  for 
the  last  five  or  six  years,  was  conscious  of 
receiving  an  almost  painfully  vivid  impression 
at  once  of  physical  feebleness  and  intellectual 
energy.  The  elder  man's  face  and  hands  ap- 
peared transparent  as  the  crystal  memento  mori 
on  the  table  beside  him.  His  long,  straight 
nose  showed  thin  as  a  knife.  His  wide,  lip- 
less  mouth  seemed  to  shut  with  a  spring,  like 
a  trap.  The  bone  of  the  face  and  hands  was 
salient,  as  of  one  suffering  starvation.  Yet 
the  blue-grey  eyes,  though  sunk  in  their 
cavernous  sockets,  were  brilliant,  alert,  full 
of  an  almost  malevolent  greed  of  observation. 


12      "The  Gateless  Barrier 

Laurence  noted  that  a  spotless  cleanliness  and 
order  pervaded  the  room  and  the  person  of 
its  occupant.  The  angular  and  attenuated 
face  was  shaven  with  scrupulous  nicety.  The 
finger-nails  were  carefully  polished  and  pointed. 
An  open  collar  and  wristbands  of  fine  lawn 
showed  exquisitely  white  against  the  purple 
cloth  and  fur  of  the  dressing-gown.  It  was 
evident  that  Mr.  Rivers,  whatever  the  pecu- 
liarities of  his  temper  or  of  his  opinions, 
treated  illness  and  approaching  dissolution 
with  an  admirable  effect  of  stoicism  and 
personal  dignity. 

As  Laurence  —  himself  conspicuously  well- 
groomed,  in  evening  dress,  no  mark  of  his 
long  journey  upon  him,  save  in  a  complexion 
tanned  by  sun  and  sea-wind,  and  by  the  di- 
rectness of  glance  and  vigour  of  movement 
that  remains,  for  a  while,  by  every  true  sea- 
lover  after  he  comes  ashore  —  crossed  the 
space  between  the  door  and  fireplace,  the  old 
man  raised  himself  a  little  in  his  chair. 

"  Believe  me,  I  am  very  sensible  of  the 
consideration  you  show  in  so  immediately 
gratifying  my  desire  to  see  you,  my  dear 
Laurence." 


The  Gateless  Barrier      13 

<f  I  was  very  happy  to  come,  sir,"  the 
younger  man  answered.  But  he  was  not  un- 
conscious of  a  point  of  irony  in  the  cold, 
level  tones  of  the  voice,  or  in  the  persistent 
scrutiny  of  the  brilliant  eyes.  These  appeared 
to  regard  him  as  they  might  some  row  of 
figures  —  mentally  casting  up,  subtracting, 
dividing,  intent  on  arriving,  with  all  possible 
despatch,  at  a  conclusive  and  final  result. 
The  effect  was  not  precisely  encouraging,  nor 
were  the  words  which  followed. 

"That  is  well,"  Mr.  Rivers  said.  "  But  it 
is  desirable  you  should  understand  from  the 
outset  that  which  you  have  undertaken.  You 
may  be  detained  here.  The  disease  from 
which  I  suffer  is,  as  you  have  been  informed, 
incurable ;  though  it  is,  I  am  happy  to  say, 
neither  offensive  or  infectious.  But  though 
the  final  result  is  assured,  the  moment  of  its 
advent  is  uncertain.  Neither  I,  nor  the  phy- 
sicians who  amiably  expend  their  limited  and 
somewhat  empirical  skill  upon  me,  can  deter- 
mine the  date  at  which  this  disease  will  prove 
fatal.  I  shall  regret  to  cause  you  inconven- 
ience, but  the  event  is  beyond  my  control.  I 
may  keep  you  waiting." 


14      The  Gateless  Barrier 

"  The  longer  the  better,  sir,"  Laurence  said, 
smiling,  and  his  smile  was  sincere  and  genial, 
of  the  sort  which  inspires  confidence.  —  "That 
is,"  he  added,  "if  you  do  not  suffer  unduly." 

"  When  the  mind  has  realised  the  great-v 
ness  of  its  own  powers,  and  trained  itself  to 
their  exercise,  the  will  can  almost  invariably 
reduce  suffering  to  endurable  proportions," 
Mr.  Rivers  replied  contemptuously,  as  deal- 
ing with  a  matter  obvious,  and  so  beneath 
discussion.  He  raised  one  transparent  hand, 
pointed  towards  a  chair,  and  then  let  his  wrist 
drop  again  upon  a  supporting  silken  cushion. 
As  he  did  so  the  two  heavy  rings  he  wore  — 
one  an  amethyst  set  in  brilliants  and  engraved 
with  Arabic  characters,  the  other  a  black 
scarab  on  a  hoop  of  rough  gold  —  slipped  up 
the  long  phalange  of  his  second  finger  to  the 
knotted  knuckle,  and  back  again,  with  a  dry 
rattle  and  chink. 

"  Oblige  me  by  sitting  down,  Laurence,"  he 
said.  "  I  wish  you  to  labour  under  no  mis- 
apprehension as  to  my  intentions  in  sending 
for  you.  A  certain  amount  of  business  may 
need  attention  ;  but  all  that  you  can  discuss 
-with  my  agent,  Armstrong,  —  a  very  worthy, 


The  Gateless  Barrier       15 

though  prejudiced  person.  My  affairs  are  in 
order.  I  am  not  called  upon  to  waste  any  of 
the  time  remaining  to  me  upon  them.  Let 
me  explain  myself.  The  disease  —  for,  to  do 
so,  I  must  refer  to  it  once  again  —  which  is 
in  process  of  destroying  certain  organs,  and 
consequently  paralysing  certain  functions  of 
my  body,  has  in  no  degree  affected  my  mind. 
This  retains  the  completeness  of  its  lucidity. 
Indeed,  I  am  disposed  to  believe  that  my 
enforced  physical  inactivity,  and  the  small 
number  of  objects  presented  to  my  sight — I 
never  leave  this  room  —  tend  to  exalt  and 
stimulate  my  intellectual  powers.  You  recall 
the  legend  of  the  ancient  philosopher  who 
plucked  out  his  eyes,  that,  undisturbed  by  the 
vision  of  irrelevant  objects,  he  might  attain  to 
greater  concentration  of  thought.  Disease, 
in  limiting  my  activities,  has  gone  far  to  con- 
fer upon  me  the  boon  which  the  philosopher 
in  question  strove,  rather  violently,  to  bestow 
upon  himself.  I  have  ever  been  a  student. 
I  propose  to  continue  so  to  the  last.  My 
interest  is  unabated.  My  passion  for  knowl- 
edge —  the  sole  passion  of  my  life  —  remains 
in  full  force." 


16       The  Gateless  Barrier 

Laurence  sat  listening,  nursing  his  knee. 
The  speaker's  attitude  was  impressive,  in  a 
way  admirable.  His  detachment,  his  calm, 
his  acumen,  commanded  his  hearer's  respect. 

"  Yes,  yes.  I  see  —  that 's  fine,"  Laurence 
said  under  his  breath. 

A  slightly  ironical  expression  passed  across 
the  elder  man's  attenuated  face. 

"  I  am,  of  course,  glad  that  my  sentiments 
meet  with  your  approval.  But  I  fear  that 
approval  may  prove  premature.  I  have  not 
yet  fully  explained  myself." 

Laurence  smiled  at  him  good-temperedly. 
"  All  right,  sir ;  I  'm  listening,"  he  said. 

"  I  must  frankly  admit  I  did  not  require 
your  presence  with  a  view  to  having  you 
endorse  my  opinions.  These  are,  I  trust, 
too  much  the  outcome  of  close  and  lengthened 
thought  to  stand  in  need  of  support  from  the 
agreement  of  another  mind.  I  have  never 
desired  disciples,  having  the  evidence  of  the 
history  of  all  great  religious,  political,  and 
scientific  movements  to  prove  conclusively 
that  it  is  the  invariable  habit  of  the  disciple 
to  falsify  his  master's  teaching,  to  attach  him- 
self to  the  weak  rather  than  the  strong  places 


'The  Gateless  Barrier       17 

of  such  teaching,  to  betray  intellectually  with 
some  emotional,  some  hysterical  kiss.  The 
disciple  resembles  those  parasitic  plants  of  the 
tropic  forests,  that  strangle  the  tree  upon 
which  they  climb  upward  toward  the  air  and 
light." 

He  paused  a  moment,  turned  his  head 
against  the  pillows,  with  a  movement  of  al- 
most distressing  weakness.  Then,  gathering 
himself  together  by  a  perceptible  exercise  of 
will,  he  looked  searchingly  at  Laurence  again, 
and  resumed  his  speech. 

"  Nor  have  I  required  your  presence  here 
during  these  last  days  or  weeks  —  as  the  case 
may  be  —  with  a  view  to  offering  to  you,  or 
receiving  from  you,  that  which  is  usually 
termed  affection.  I  am  not  aware  of  any  de- 
mand, or  supply,  in  myself  of  that  very  much 
overrated  commodity.  I  deny  the  actuality, 
indeed,  of  its  existence.  Subjected  to  analy- 
sis, it  can  always  be  resolved  into  workings 
of  self-interest,  or  into  the  gratification,  more 
or  less  gross,  of  the  animal  passions.  It  is 
the  generator  of  all  the  practical  folly  and 
intellectual  sloth  which  go  to  retard  the  pro- 
gress of  science,  and  the  rule  of  high  philoso- 


i8       The  Gateless  Barrier 

phy  among  men.  As  between  ourselves,  my 
dear  Laurence,  any  pretence  of  affection  would 
be  transparently  ridiculous.  We  are  barely 
acquainted.  My  departure  will  very  clearly 
be  to  your  advantage.  Moreover,  our  tastes 
and  characters  are  so  divergent,  that  any  real 
community  of  interests,  any  real  bond  of 
sympathy,  is  clearly  out  of  the  question." 

During  the  course  of  this  address  the  young 
man's  pleasant  smile  had  broadened  almost  to 
the  point  of  laughter. 

"  I  understand,  I  really  do  understand,"  he 
said.  "  And  now  that  we  've  cleared  the  decks 
for  action  in  this  very  comprehensive  manner, 
I  grow  —  if  I  may  mention  it — most  un- 
commonly curious  to  learn  what  you  did  send 
for  me  here  for." 

"  I  sent  for  you  because  there  is  one 
matter  regarding  which  my  information  is 
conspicuously  defective,  and  because  your 
conversation,  your  habits,  your  very  appear- 
ance, and  gestures  may  serve  to  enlighten  me. 
I  have  lived  among  books,  and  objects  of  art 
of  no  mean  value.  I  have  enjoyed  com- 
munion, both  by  letter  and  in  speech,  with 
many  of  the  most  distinguished  minds  of  the 


'The  Gateless  Barrier       19 

present  century.  But  I  never  associated,  I 
have  never  cared  to  associate,  with  the  aver- 
age man  of  the  world,  of  the  clubs  and  the 
racecourse,  the  man  of  intrigues,  of,  in  short, 
society.  He  appeared  to  me  to  weigh  too 
lightly  in  the  scale  to  be  a  worthy  object  of 
study.  I  ignored  him,  and  in  so  doing 
dropped  an  important  link  out  of  the  chain 
of  being.  For  these  persons  breed,  they  per- 
petuate tendencies,  they  influence  and  modify 
the  history  of  the  race.  Not  to  reckon  with 
such  persons,  is  not  to  reckon  with  a  per- 
sistent and  active  factor  in  intellectual  and . 
moral  evolution." 

Laurence  had  risen  to  his  feet.  He  stood 
with  his  hands  behind  him  and  his  back  to 
the  fire.  He  was  amused,  but  he  was  also 
slightly  nettled. 

"  Ah  !  "  he  said,  "  exactly.  And  so  you 
sent  for  me.  You  took  for  granted  I  was 
that  sort.  You  wanted  to  see  how  we  do  it." 

"Yes,"  Mr.  Rivers  answered,  "it  did  ap- 
pear to  me  that  you  were  calculated  to  fulfil 
the  conditions.  In  any  case  you  were  the  only 
example  of  the  type  available.  Our  connec- 
tion by  blood,  and  the  relation  in  which  you 


20       The  Gateless  Barrier 

stand  to  my  property,  gave  me  certain  claims 
upon  your  time  and  your  consideration.  I 
wish  very  much  to  observe  you.  I  wish  to 
study  you  from  the  psychological  and  other 
points  of  view.  You  need  not  attempt  to 
assist  me.  Be  yourself,  please.  Be  passive. 
I  need  no  co-operation  on  the  part  of  my  sub- 
ject. This  will  really  give  you  very  little 
trouble,  while  it  will  afford  me  interesting 
occupation  during  the  period  —  whether  short 
or  protracted,  I  know  not  —  which  must 
elapse  before  disease  has  run  its  course  and 
procured  dissolution." 

Laurence  listened  in  silence ;  and  while  he 
did  so,  he  ceased  to  be  nettled,  he  ceased  even 
to  be  inclined  to  treat  these  singular  pro- 
posals humorously.  For  there  appeared  to 
him  a  certain  pathos  in  the  earnest  desire  of 
this  recluse  and  student  now,  at  the  eleventh 
hour,  to  acquaint  himself  with  just  that  which 
he  had  so  arrogantly  despised,  namely  the 
Commonplace.  It  was  slightly  wounding  to 
personal  vanity  to  be  thus  selected,  from 
among  the  millions  of  mankind,  as  a  fine, 
thorough-paced  example  and  exponent  of 
the  Commonplace.  But  Laurence  was  kind- 


The  Gateless  Barrier      21 

hearted.  He  also  possessed  a  fund  of  practi- 
cal philosophy.  No  —  decidedly  the  position 
was  not  a  flattering  one !  Yet  it  was  rather 
/"—original,  and,  moreover,  how  could  one  in 
common  charity  refuse  any  little  pleasure  to 
a  dying  man  ? 

"  Very  well,  sir,"  he  said.  "  I  think  I  quite 
grasp  the  necessities  of  the  inquiry.  I'm 
quite  willing  to  be  operated  on,  and  I  promise 
to  play  fair  and  not  let  the  evidence  be  faked. 
But  I  'm  afraid  you  '11  get  bored  first.  I  am 
likely  to  be  more  illuminated  than  illuminat- 
ing." 

"  I  am  obliged  to  you,"  Mr.  Rivers  said. 
"  To-night  I  will  not  further  detain  you. 
Pray  give  any  orders  you  please  to  Renshaw. 
He  is  a  well-trained  and  responsible  servant. 
There  are  horses  in  the  stable.  Good-night. 
I  repeat  that  I  am  obliged  to  you." 


Ill 


FINDING  it  unlikely  that  his  uncle 
would  ask  for  him  before  evening, 
and  that  consequently  he  had  plenty 
of  time  at  his  disposal,  Laurence 
embarked  after  breakfast  upon  a  survey  of 
the  house.  When  a  boy  at  school  he  had 
occasionally  passed  a  couple  of  nights  at 
Stoke  Rivers.  His  recollections  of  these 
visits  were  not  gay.  He  had  been  glad 
enough  to  go  away  again.  It  followed  that 
his  impressions  of  the  house  itself  were  vague 
and  confused.  He  now  found  that  it  was 
constructed  in  the  shape  of  a  capital  L 
reversed.  The  base  of  the  letter,  facing  east 
and  west,  contained  kitchens,  offices,  and 
servants'  quarters.  The  main  building  —  at 
right  angles  to  it  —  was  two  stones  in  height, 
and  consisted  of  suites  of  handsome  rooms 
opening  on  to  a  wide  corridor.  The  windows 
of  the  latter  looked  south,  those  of  the  rooms 
north.  The  colouring  and  furnishings  re- 
sembled, in  the  main,  those  of  Mr.  Rivers' 
bedroom.  Dark  panelled  walls,  rich,  sombre 
hangings  of  dark  blue,  crimson,  or  violet 


Gateless  Barrier       23 

obtained  throughout.  In  the  drawing-rooms 
were  some  noble  landscapes  by  Cuyp,  Ruys- 
dael,  and  other  Dutch  masters  of  note. 
There  was  also  an  admirable  collection  of 
Italian  ivories,  small  figures  of  exquisite 
workmanship  ;  and  several  glass  cases  con- 
taining fine  antique  and  renaissance  gems. 
The  walls  of  the  libraries  were  lined  with 
books  —  a  curious  and  varied  collection, 
ranging  from  ancient  black-letter  volumes 
down  to  the  latest  German  treatise,  on 
natural  science  or  metaphysics,  of  the  current 
year.  Laurence  promised  himself  to  make 
nearer  acquaintance  with  these  rather  weighty 
joys  at  a  more  convenient  season.  Mean- 
while, in  contrast  to  the  otherwise  distinctly 
old-fashioned  character  of  the  house,  he  re- 
marked a  very  complete  installation  of  electric 
light,  and  an  ingenious  system  of  hot-air 
ventilation,  by  means  of  which  a  temperature 
of  over  seventy  degrees  was  maintained 
throughout  the  whole  interior.  This  pro- 
duced a  heavy  and  enervating  atmosphere  of 
which  Laurence  —  fresh  from  the  strong  clean 
air  of  the  Atlantic  —  became  increasingly  and 
disagreeably  sensible.  It  made  him  at  once 


24      The  Gate/ess  Barrier 

restless  and  inert ;  and  as  he  wandered,  rather 
aimlessly  from  room  to  room,  he  was  annoyed 
by  finding  a  slight  nervousness  gained  on 
him  —  he,  whose  nerves  were  usually  of 
the  steadiest,  happily  conspicuous  by  their  ab- 
sence, indeed,  rather  than  by  their  presence  ! 

"  Upon  my  word,  this  beats  the  American 
abomination  of  steam  heat,"  he  said  to  him- 
self. 

His  visit  to  the  library,  where  the  smell  of 
old  leather  bindings  added  to  the  deadness  of 
the  air,  nearly  finished  him.  He  went  out 
on  to  the  corridor,  and  paced  the  length  of 
it,  past  the  flying  staircase  of  black  oak  lead- 
ing to  the  upper  corridor,  and  back  again. 
A  broad  strip  of  deep-pile,  crimson  carpet 
was  spread  along  the  centre  of  the  polished 
floor.  On  one  hand,  between  the  doors  of 
the  living-rooms,  hung  a  collection  of  valuable 
copperplate  engravings,  representing  classic 
ruins  in  Italy  and  Greece.  While  on  the 
other,  in  the  spaces  between  the  windows, 
were  ranged  a  series  of  busts  —  Augustus, 
Tiberias,  Nero,  the  two  Antonines,  Caligula, 
and  Commodus  —  set  on  tall  columnar  ped- 
estals of  dark  green  or  yellow  marble.  The 


The  Gateless  Barrier      25 

blind,  sculptured  faces  deepened  the  general 
sense  of  oppression  by  their  rigidity,  their 
unalterable  and  somewhat  scornful  repose. 

Out  of  doors  the  March  morning  was  tu- 
multuous with  wind  and  wet,  offering  marked 
contrast  to  the  dry  heat,  the  almost  burden- 
some order  and  stillness  reigning  within. 
The  air  of  the  corridor  was  perhaps  a  degree 
fresher  than  that  of  the  library  he  had  just 
quitted.  Laurence  leaned  his  arms  on  a 
stone  window-sill,  and  glanced  in  a  desultory 
way  at  the  day's  Times,  which  he  had  picked 
up  off  the  hall  table  in  passing.  But  Chinese 
railway  concessions,  plague  reports  from  Bom- 
bay, even  the  last  racing  fixtures,  or  rumours 
of  fighting  on  the  North-West  Indian  Fron- 
tier, failed  to  arouse  his  interest.  In  his 
present  humour,  these  items  of  news  from 
the  outside  world  seemed  curiously  unim- 
portant and  remote.  He  stared  at  the  wide, 
well-wooded,  rain-blurred  landscape.  The 
scene  at  which  he  had  assisted  last  night,  the 
intimate  drama  moving  forward  relentlessly 
even  now  to  its  close  in  that  well-appointed 
room  upstairs  —  and  the  extraordinary  char- 
acter of  the  chief  actor  in  that  drama  —  his 


26       The  Gateless  Barrier 

over-stimulated  brain  and  atrophied  affections, 
his  greed  of  experiment  and  of  acquiring  in- 
formation, even  yet,  in  the  very  article  of 
death  —  depressed  Laurence's  imagination  as 
the  close  atmosphere  depressed  his  body.  It 
was  all  so  painfully  narrow,  barren,  hungry, 
joyless,  somehow.  And  meanwhile,  he,  Lau- 
rence, was  required  to  play  the  fool  —  not 
for  the  provocation  of  laughter,  which  would 
after  all  have  had  a  semblance  of  cheerful 
good-fellowship  in  it.  But  in  cold  blood,  as 
an  object  lesson  in  the  manner  and  customs 
of  the  average  man  ;  a  lesson  the  result  of 
which  would  be  tabulated  and  pigeon-holed 
by  that  unwearying  intelligence,  as  might  be 
the  habits  of  some  species  of  obscure,  un- 
pleasant insect.  The  young  man  had  devel- 
oped slight  intolerance  of  the  exclusively 
worldly  side  of  things  lately.  It  seemed  by 
no  means  improbable  he  might  develop  equal 
intolerance  of  the  exclusively  intellectual  side 
before  long,  at  this  rate. 

"  I  seem  qualifying  as  a  past-master  in  the 
highly  unprofitable  act  of  quarrelling  with  my 
bread  and  butter,"  he  said  to  himself.  "  If 
I  chuck  society,  and  proceed  to  chuck  brains 


The  Gateless  Barrier       27 

as  well,  for  a  man  like  myself,  without  genius 
and  without  a  profession,  what  the  devil  is 
there  left  ?  " 

Meditating  thus,  he  had  left  his  station  at 
the  window,  and  walked  to  the  extreme  end 
of  the  corridor  farthest  away  from  the  ser- 
vants' wing  of  the  house.  It  was  closed  by 
a  splendid  tapestry  curtain,  whereon  a  crowd 
of  round-limbed  cupids  drove  a  naked  and 
reluctant  woman,  with  gestures  of  naughty 
haste,  towards  a  satyr,  seated  beneath  a  shad- 
owy grove  of  trees  upon  a  little  monticule, 
who  beckoned  with  one  hand  while  with  the 
other  he  stopped  the  notes  of  his  reed  pipe. 
The  tapestry  was  of  great  beauty  and  indu- 
bitable worth ;  but  the  subject  of  it  was 
slightly  displeasing  to  Laurence,  a  trifle  gross 
in  suggestion,  as  had  been  the  sphinxes  and 
caryatides  of  the  carven  ebony  bed. 

"  Oh  !  of  course  there  's  that  sort  of  thing 
left,"  he  said  to  himself,  recurring  to  his  re- 
cent train  of  thought.  "  But,  no  thank  you, 
I  flatter  myself  I  can  hardly  find  satisfaction 
in  those  low  latitudes  at  present." 

Having,  however,  an  appreciation  of  all 
fine  artistic  work,  he  laid  hold  of  the  border 


28       The  Gateless  Barrier 

of  the  curtain,  wishing  to  feel  its  texture.  To 
his  surprise,  it  was  of  very  great  weight, 
padded  and  lined  with  leather,  as  are  cur- 
tains covering  the  doors  of  certain  Roman 
churches. 

Laurence  pulled  the  corner  of  it  towards 
him  and  passed  behind  it.  The  curtain  fell 
back  into  position  with  a  muffled  thud,  leav- 
ing him  standing  in  a  narrow,  dark,  cupboard- 
like  space,  closed  by  a  door,  of  which  it  took 
him  some  stifling  seconds  to  find  the  handle. 
He  fumbled  blindly  in  the  dark,  an  almost 
childish  sense  of  agitation  upon  him.  He 
felt  as  in  dreams,  when  the  place  to  be  trav- 
ersed grows  more  and  more  contracted,  walls 
closing  down  and  in  on  every  hand,  while  the 
means  of  exit  become  more  maddeningly  im- 
possible of  discovery.  To  his  surprise,  he 
turned  faint  and  broke  into  a  sweat.  It  was 
not  in  the  least  an  amusing  experience. 

At  last  the  handle  gave,  with  a  click,  and 
the  door  opened,  disclosing  a  large  and  lofty 
room  quite  unlike  any  one  which  he  had  yet 
visited.  It  was  delicately  fresh  both  in  at- 
mosphere and  colouring.  It  wore  a  gracious 
and  friendly  look,  seeming  to  welcome  the 


"The  Gateless  Barrier      29 

intruder  with  a  demure  gladsomeness.  A  cer- 
tain gaiety  pervaded  it  even  on  this  unpropi- 
tious  morning.  The  great  bay-window,  fac- 
ing east,  gave  upon  a  stately  Italian  garden, 
beyond  the  tall  cypresses,  white  statues,  and 
fountains  of  which  spread  flat,  high-lying 
lawns  of  brilliantly  green  turf.  These  were 
crossed  by  a  broad  walk  ,of  golden  gravel 
leading  to  an  avenue  of  enormous  lime- 
trees,  the  domed  heads  of  which  were  just 
touched  with  the  rose-pink  buds  of  the  open- 
ing spring. 

The  furniture  of  the  room  was  of  satin- 
wood,  highly  polished  and  painted  with  gar- 
lands of  roses,  true-lovers'  knots  of  blue 
ribbon,  dainty  landscapes,  ladies  and  lovers, 
after  the  manner  of  Boucher.  The  chairs 
and  sofas  were  upholstered  in  brocade,  the 
predominating  colours  of  which  were  white, 
pale  yellow,  and  pale  pink.  An  old-fash- 
ioned, square,  semi-grand  piano  —  the  case 
of  it  in  satinwood  and  painted  like  the  rest  — 
stood  out  into  the  room.  On  a  spindle- 
legged  table  beside  it  lay  a  quantity  of  music, 
the  printing  very  black,  the  pages  brown  with 
age.  Close  against  these  was  a  violin  case 


30       The  Gateless  Barrier 

covered  with  faded,  red  velvet,  on  which  were 
stamped  initials  and  a  crest. 

Laurence's  eyes  dwelt  on  these  things. 
And  then  —  surely  there  should  be  a  harp  in 
the  further  left-hand  corner,  the  strings  of 
it  covered  by  a  gilded,  stamped  leather  hood  ? 
Yes,  it  was  there  right  enough.  —  And  a  tall 
escritoire,  with  a  miniature  brass  balustrade 
running  along  the  top  of  it,  should  stand  at 
right  angles  to  the  chimney-piece,  upon  which 
last,  doubled  by  the  looking-glass  behind, 
should  be  tall  azure  and  gold  Sevres  jars,  an 
Empire  clock  —  the  golden  face  of  it  set  in  a 
ring  of  precious  garnets  —  figures  in  Chelsea 
china  and  branched,  gold  candlesticks. 

Laurence  looked  for  and  found  these 
objects,  a  prey  at  once  to  surprise  and  to  a 
sense  of  happy  familiarity.  He  was  perfectly 
acquainted  with  this  room  —  but  why  or  how 
he  knew  not.  He  was  filled,  too,  by  a  sin- 
gular sense  of  expectation.  It  was  to  him 
as  though  some  exquisite  presence  had  but 
lately  quitted  this  apartment  and  might,  at 
any  instant,  return  to  it.  He  apprehended 
something  tenderly,  delectably  feminine. 
The  china  ornaments,  and  many  little  fanciful 


The  Gateless  Barrier       31 

silver  toys,  spoke  of  a  woman's  taste.  So 
did  a  tambour  frame,  and  an  ivory  work-box, 
the  lid  of  it  open,  disclosing  dainty  property 
of  gold  thimble,  scissors,  cottons,  and  what 
not  —  and  a  half-finished  frill  of  cobweb-like 
India  muslin,  a  little,  gold-eyed  needle  stick- 
ing in  the  mimic  hem.  On  the  small  table 
beside  the  workbox  lay  a  white  vellum-bound 
copy  of  the  Vita  Nuova  of  Dante,  and  the 
Introduction  to  the  Devout  Life  of  St.  Francis 
de  Sales. 

Perplexed  by  his  own  sensations,  possessed 
too  by  a  sudden,  gentle  reverence  and  longing 
which  he  could  not  explain,  Laurence  touched 
the  pretty  trifles  in  the  work-box  ;  fitted  the 
thimble  on  the  tip  of  his  little  finger  ;  turned 
the  pages  of  the  Dante,  and  read  how  the  poet 
came  near  swooning  at  first  sight  of  the 
maiden  of  eight  years  old  whom,  though  she 
was  never  destined  to  be  his  mistress  or  wife, 
he  loved  ever  after,  and  made  immortal  in 
immortal  verse.  He  unlocked  the  worn  red- 
velvet  violin  case  and  drew  the  bow  —  not 
for  the  first  time  —  he  could  have  sworn  not 
—  across  the  wailing  strings.  What  did  it 
all  mean  ?  Yes,  what,  indeed,  —  in  the  name 


32       The  Gateless  Barrier 

of  common-sense,  of  New  York  and  New- 
port, of  his  golf  and  polo,  and  cotillions, 
of  crowded  opera-house  and  shouting  race- 
course ?  In  the  name,  too,  of  those  hard, 
brilliant,  dying  eyes,  and  that  cold,  hungry 
intellect  upstairs,  what  did  it  mean  ?  He  had 
no  recollection  of  having  been  into  this  room 
on  his  former  visits  to  Stoke  Rivers  in  his 
boyhood.  And  yet,  of  course,  he  must  have 
been  here  —  otherwise  ?  But  then  this  over- 
mastering sense  of  expectation,  this  appre- 
hension of  an  exquisite  feminine  presence, 
this  — 

"  Upon  my  word,  I  'm  playing  the  fool  to 
some  purpose,"  he  said,  half  aloud. 

He  crossed  the  room,  threw  wide  the 
French  window  and  went  onto  the  head  of  the 
semicircular  flight  of  stone  steps  without. 
The  wind  buffeted  him  roughly.  The  rain 
spattered  in  his  face.  On  the  left,  the  lawns 
were  divided  from  the  downward  slope  of 
rough  park  and  woodland  by  a  sunk  fence. 
Beyond  was  outspread  an  extensive  tract  of 
rolling,  wooded  country  —  red  and  white 
hamlets  half  buried  among  trees,  here  and 
there  the  spire  of  a  village  church,  flat,  green 


'The  Gateless  Barrier      33 

pastures  lying  along  the  valleys,  brown 
patches  of  hop-garden  and  ploughland,  and 
uplifted  against  the  grey,  storm-drifted  hori- 
zon a  windmill  crowning  some  conspicuous 
height.  Suddenly  the  cry  of  hounds,  run- 
ning, saluted  Laurence's  ear.  Then  the 
whole  pack,  breaking  covert,  crossed  the 
open  park.  The  field  followed,  horses  pull- 
ing, riders  leaning  forward,  squaring  their 
shoulders  to  the  wind — a  flash  of  scarlet, 
chesnut,  black  and  bay,  behind  the  dappled 
joy  of  the  racing  pack. 

For  a  moment  the  strange  influences  of  this 
strange  day  made  even  the  merry  hunt  appear 
to  Laurence  as  the  pageant  of  an  uneasy 
dream.  But  soon  the  honest  outdoor  life 
claimed  him  again,  forcing  him  back  upon 
unquestioned  realities.  He  closed  the  French 
window  behind  him,  stood  on  the  wet  steps 
spending  some  anxious  moments  in  the 
lighting  of  a  cigar,  and  then  strolled,  hatless, 
round  to  the  stables  to  make  inquiry  as  to 
what  his  uncle  might  own  in  the  matter  of 
horseflesh. 


IV 

IN  the  afternoon  Laurence  drove  over  to 
Bishop's  Pudbury,  some  eight  miles  dis- 
tant from  Stoke  Rivers.  An  English 
soldier  —  by  name  Bellingham  —  whom 
he  had  known  in  New  York,  and  who  had 
married  a  Miss  Van  Renan,  a  cousin  of  Vir- 
ginia —  had  taken  a  house  there  for  the  hunt- 
ing season.  His  wife  had  impressed  upon 
Laurence  the  duty  of  making  an  early  call  on 
these  connections  —  he  being  the  bearer  of 
certain  gifts  to  a  small  daughter  of  the  family, 
Virginia's  godchild.  A  revulsion  in  favour 
of  the  ordinary  ways  of  ordinary  modern  life, 
in  favour,  indeed,  of  that  very  Commonplace 
of  which  last  evening  he  had  supposed  him- 
self so  unwilling  an  exponent,  was  upon  him. 
He  wanted  to  get  in  with  his  accustomed 
habits,  his  accustomed  outlook,  again.  The 
last  twenty-four  hours  had  been  somewhat  of 
a  strain,  and  Laurence  was  as  lazy  as  are  most 
healthy  Englishmen.  He  hated  energising, 
specially  of  the  super-induced,  involuntary 
sort.  And  Mrs.  Bellingham's  society  would 
be  helpful.  She  was  an  agreeable  woman,  of 


The  Gateless  Barrier       35 

this  world  worldly.  He  could  have  a  good, 
square  gossip  with  her.  She  was  possessed, 
moreover,  of  a  cult  for  Virginia  —  for  her 
beauty,  her  clothes,  her  social  ability.  And 
in  the  back  of  his  mind,  somehow,  Laurence 
was  conscious  that  it  would  be  an  excellent 
thing  for  him  to  hear  Virginia's  praises 
sounded  loudly.  Mrs.  Bellingham  would 
count  .his  blessings  to  him.  That  recital 
would  be  at  once  humbling  and  bracing  —  al- 
together salutary.  But,  unfortunately,  neither 
the  lady  nor  her  husband  were  at  home  ;  so 
he  could  but  deposit  Virginia's  immaculate 
parcels,  tied  with  flaring  bows  of  amber  rib- 
bon, and  drive  homeward  through  the  rolling 
Sussex  country  —  now  engulfed  in  its  deep, 
narrow  lanes,  now  climbing  its  breezy,  wooded 
hills,  catching  glimpses  of  the  smooth,  open 
downs  ranging  away  to  Beachy  Head,  and  of 
the  grey  turmoil  of  the  dirty  Channel  sea. 

All  this  was  not  very  exciting,  it  must  be 
owned,  but  it  afforded  him  relief  from  the 
singular  sensations  he  had  experienced  during 
the  morning.  He  came  into  the  house  in 
excellent  spirits,  bringing  the  clean  chill  of 
the  March  evening  along  with  him  —  came 


36       The  Gateless  Barrier 

in  to  meet  the  same  dry,  dead  atmosphere, 
the  same  dark,  glossy  walls,  and  rich,  sombre 
colours,  the  same  at  once  unemotional  yet 
almost  voluptuous  suggestion  from  objects 
of  art.  A  lonely  dinner  followed,  admirably 
served  by  two  silent,  middle-aged  men-ser- 
vants. Their  faces  were  sallow  and  without 
expression,  their  manner  was  correct  to  the 
point  of  absolute  nullity  of  character,  they 
moved  as  automata.  The  dinner  itself  was  a 
little  chef-d* tewure,  and  was  served  on  remark- 
ably handsome  silver  plate.  As  centre-piece, 
three  dancing  female  figures  in  silver-gilt  — 
copied  apparently  from  those  on  some  Etrus- 
can vase  —  supported  a  cut-glass  bowl,  in 
which  floated  fantastic  orchids,  some  mot- 
tled, dull,  brown-green,  toad-like,  some  in 
long  sprays  of  mauve,  or  tiger-colour,  striped 
with  glossy  black.  These  last  gave  off  a  thick 
musky  scent. 

Towards  the  end  of  the  meal  Renshaw,  the 
butler,  delivered  a  note  to  him,  which  Lau- 
rence read  not  without  kindly  amusement.  It 
was  from  the  curate -in-charge  —  the  Rector 
of  Stoke  Rivers  preferring  to  dwell  amid  the 
social  excitements  of  Cheltenham,  and  but 


'The  Gateless  Barrier      37 

rarely,  on  the  plea  of  bad  health,  visiting  the 
parish.  Laurence  judged  the  curate-in-charge 
to  be  a  very  young  man.  His  letter  ran 
thus : — 

"  DEAR  SIR,  —  I  trust  I  am  not  presuming  upon 
my  official  connection  with  this  parish  by  hastening 
to  express  to  you  the  great  relief  which  I  feel  in 
learning  that  you  have  arrived  at  the  Courthouse. 
As  representative  of  the  incumbent  of  this  parish,  I 
hold  myself  responsible  for  the  spiritual  welfare  of  all 
persons  resident  in  it,  whether  of  exalted  or  humble 
station.  I  have,  therefore,  suffered  much  anxiety 
regarding  your  uncle's,  Mr.  Rivers,  spiritual  condi- 
tion, in  his  present  very  serious  state  of  health.  I 
know  that  his  views  are  regrettably  latitudinarian,  and 
that  his  attitude  is  far  from  conciliatory  towards  the 
Church.  These  sad  facts,  however,  far  from  re- 
lieving me  of  responsibility,  only  increase  it.  I 
would  so  gladly  read  and  pray  with  him,  and  reason 
with  him  of  those  things  necessary  to  salvation. 
The  time  permitted  him  may,  I  understand,  be  short. 
It  is  my  duty  first  to  warn,  and  then  to  console.  I 
cannot  reproach  myself  with  negligence  in  calling  at 
the  Courthouse.  I  do  so  regularly  three  times  a 
week.  Unhappily,  Mr.  Rivers  is  persistent  in  his 
refusal  to  receive  me.  This  is  not  only  very  shock- 
ing, as  precluding  the  possibility  of  my  offering  either 


38       'The  Gateless  Barrier 

the  warnings  or  consolations  of  religion  to  the  in- 
valid ;  but  it  injuriously  affects  my  position  with 
my  parishioners,  who,  seeing  me  thus  slighted  by  the 
principal  landowner  in  the  parish,  show  a  painful 
disposition  to  treat  my  ministrations  with  levity,  and 
my  person  with  disrespect.  I  trust  to  your  sense  of 
justice  to  obtain  my  admittance  to  the  sickroom,  both 
in  the  interests  of  your  uncle's  eternal  welfare  and 
in  those  of  the  Church,  of  which  I  am  a  humble,  but, 
I  trust,  efficient  minister. — I  have  the  honour  to 
remain,  dear  Sir,  yours  obediently, 

"  WALTER  SAMUEL  REAL." 

Laurence  finished  his  glass  of  claret  and  his 
cigarette  with  a  smile.  He  sat  a  minute  or 
two,  gazing  at  the  dancing,  golden  figures 
and  at  the  rather  malign  loveliness  of  the 
orchids. 

"  Poor  little  Padre  Sahib  !  "  he  said  to  him- 
self. "  I  '11  go  and  see  him  to-morrow  and 
do  my  best  to  quiet  his  worthy  conscience. 
Funny  mixture  of  soul  and  of  self  in  that 
letter !  But  he 's  very  much  too  mild  a 
Daniel  to  fling  into  the  lion's  den  upstairs. 
He  little  imagines  what  he  's  asking.  Well, 
he  won't  get  it  anyhow,  so  that  does  n't  much 
matter.  Pah  !  —  how  hot  this  room  is  !  " 


The  Gateless  Barrier 


39 


Laurence  rose  from  the  table,  folded  up  the 
letter,  and  put  it  in  his  pocket. 

"  Now  for  processes  of  vivisection.  It 's 
the  most  original  fashion  of  paying  succession 
duty  I  ever  heard  of.  My  word,  if  I  ever 
do  come  into  possession,  won't  I  just  open 
the  windows  in  this  house!" 


1 


conversation  that  evening  did 
not  move  very  smoothly.  Laurence 
brought  all  the  good  temper  and 
practical  philosophy  at  his  command 
into  play.  But  the  elder  man  was  captious. 
His  blank  scepticism,  his  keen,  unsparing 
statements  jarred  on  his  companion.  An  in- 
clination towards  revolt  arose  in  Laurence. 

"  I  am  half  afraid,  sir,"  he  permitted  him- 
self to  say  at  last,  while  his  eyes  rested  on  the 
gleaming  breasts  of  the  ebony  sphinxes,  — 
"  that  we  have  made  a  radical  mistake  and  put 
the  cart  before  the  horse.  To  understand 
the  average  man,  and  his  relation  to  things 
in  general,  must  not  you  begin  with  the  study 
of  the  average  woman  ?  Is  not  cherchez  la 
femme,  after  all,  the  keynote  of  our  inquiry  ? " 
Mr.  Rivers  raised  his  thin  hand  almost  as 
in  warning,  and  the  heavy  finger-rings  chinked 
as  he  let  it  fall  again  on  the  arm  of  his 
chair. 

"The  subject  of  sex    in    connection    with 
human  beings  is  distasteful  to  me  "  he  said. 

D  •* 

Laurence  glanced  at  the  speaker  and  then 


'The  Gateless  Barrier      41 

back  at   the  carven  sphinx  again.     His  eyes 
were  a  little  merry  —  he  could  not  help  it. 

"  Oh  !  no  doubt,"  he  said ;  "  there  are 
times  when  it  is  distasteful  to  many  of  us, 
and  most  infernally  inconvenient  into  the 
bargain.  Only  you  see,  unluckily,  it  is  the 
pivot  on  which  the  whole  history  of  the  race 
turns." 

"A  most  objectionable  pivot!  An  insult 
to  the  intellect,  a  degradation." 

"  That  may  be  so,"  Laurence  answered. 
"Still  the  thing  is  there  —  always  has  been, 
always  will  be,  modern  science  notwithstand- 
ing, unless  humanity  agrees  to  voluntary  and 
universal  suicide,  a  consummation  which  does 
not  seem  immediately  probable  in  any  case. 
—  c  Male  and  female  created  He  them.'  An 
error  perhaps  of  judgment,  but  one  the 
Creator  has  never  shown  much  sign  of  wish- 
ing to  correct  as  yet.  The  most  vener- 
able religious  systems  recognise  this.  I  need 
not  remind  you  that  it  lies  at  the  heart  of 
their  mysteries.  Christianity  too  —  Catholic 
Christianity  —  the  only  form,  that  is,  of 
Christianity  worth  considering  seriously  — 
acknowledges  the  profound  significance  of  it 


42       The  Gateless  Barrier 

in  the  worship  of  the  divine  motherhood 
and  the  perpetually  renewed  miracle  of  the 
Incarnation." 

"  You  interest  me,"  Mr.  Rivers  said 
slowly. 

"  I  am  glad  of  that,"  Laurence  answered. 
He  had  warmed  up  unexpectedly  to  his  sub- 
ject. "  I  am  glad  of  that,  for  I  can't  help 
seeing  —  " 

Mr.  Rivers  interrupted  him. 

"  Pardon  me,"  he  said.  "  I  would  not 
have  you  labour  even  temporarily  under  a 
misapprehension.  It  is  less  your  exposition 
that  interests  me  than  yourself.  I  note  indi- 
cations of  thought  and  feeling  for  which  I 
was  not  wholly  prepared.  Taking  you  as 
a  fair  example  of  the  type,  I  perceive  that 
the  mind  of  the  average  member  of  society 
is  of  an  even  lower  order  than  I  had  sup- 
posed. I  had,  in  my  ignorance,  imagined 
that,  even  in  the  class  to  which  you  belong, 
modern,  scientific  ideas  had  taken  sufficient 
root  to  oust  such  effete  superstitions  as  those 
to  which  you  have  alluded.  A  more  or  less 
stupid  Agnosticism,  an  utter  indifference, 
would  not  have  surprised  me.  From  such 


The  Gate/ess  Barrier      43 

a  condition  development  is  still  possible, 
But  here  I  recognise  traces  of  a  return  to 
fetich  worship,  to  savage  standards  —  this 
indeed  is  hopeless,  a  degeneration  from  which 
revival  is  impossible.  I  admit,  of  course, 
the  necessity  of  the  existence  of  woman,  since 
the  perpetuation  of  the  race  appears  at  present 
desirable.  It  would  be  childish  to  argue  the 
matter.  She  must  be  kept  and  cared  for  by 
qualified  persons,  as  are  the  other  higher, 
domestic  animals,  but  —  " 

"  But,  but,"  Laurence  said,  laughing,  "  I 
must  protest.  Perhaps  his  type  of  mind  is 
too  low  for  yours  to  be  able  to  stoop  to  it ; 
but,  upon  my  word,  sir,  even  with  so  thor- 
ough-paced a  specimen  as  myself  before  you, 
you  have  not  grasped  the  characteristics  of 
the  average  man  one  bit.  I  don't  say  we  are 
conspicuously  noble,  or  virtuous,  or  godly 
creatures,  and  I  don't  say  that  the  side  of  our 
lives  which  has  to  do  with  our  ambitions, 
with  public  affairs,  our  profession,  or  our 
art  —  the  side,  in  fact,  in  which  woman  counts 
least  —  may  not  give  scope  to  that  which  is 
best  in  us.  I  have  no  end  of  belief  in  the 
life  a  man  lives  among  men.  I  grant  a  good 


44      The  Gateless  Barrier 

deal  on  your  side  of  the  question,  you  see. 
Only  I  know  it  will  be  a  precious  bad  day 
when  we  keep  our  women  merely  for  breed- 
ing purposes.  We  shall  have  degeneration 
in  uncommonly  full  swing  then.  There  is 
an  immense  lot  in  the  relation  between  man 
and  woman  beside  the  physical  one  ;  and  — 
and  —  I  'm  not  ashamed  to  thank  whatever 
gods  there  be  for  that." 

"Your  wife  —  "  began  Mr.  Rivers.  Lau- 
rence looked  hard  at  him,  while  the  good 
temper,  the  geniality,  died  out  of  his  face. 

"  My  wife  does  not  enter  into  our  con- 
tract, sir,"  he  said  shortly. 

The  coldly  brilliant  eyes  fastened  on  him 
with  a  certain  voracity  of  observation.  Then 
the  elder  man  bowed  slightly,  courteously, 
contemptuously. 

"  You  interest  me  extremely,"  he  said.  "  I 
am  obliged  to  you.  But  I  must  not  pre- 
sume upon  your  complaisance.  You  have 
supplied  me  with  sufficient  subjects  of  medi- 
tation for  to-night.  I  will  not  detain  you 
further.  I  thank  you,  my  dear  Laurence. 
Good-night." 

"  I   was  a  fool  to  let  myself  go,  and  a  still 


The  Gateless  Barrier      45 

bigger  one  to  lose  my  temper,"  the  young 
man  said  to  himself  as  he  closed  the  door  and 
passed  out  on  to  the  corridor. 

Save  for  a  ticking  of  clocks,  silence  pre- 
vailed throughout  the  house.  The  electric 
light,  clear  and  steady,  revealed  every  object 
in  its  completeness.  The  temperature  was 
some  degrees  higher  than  during  the  day,  and 
airless  in  proportion  to  its  increased  warmth. 
Half-way  down  the  shining  oak  staircase, 
Laurence  was  saluted  by  the  musky  odour 
of  the  orchids.  Clinging,  enfolding,  it  seemed 
to  meet  him  more  as  a  presence  than  a  scent. 
The  dining-room  door  stood  wide  open.  The 
under-butler  came  forth  and  went  noiselessly 
towards  the  offices.  There  followed  a  muffled 
sound  of  baize  doors  swinging  to.  Then 
simultaneously,  sharply,  from  all  quarters, 
clocks  struck  the  half  hour. 

"  Only  half-past  ten  !  "  Laurence  exclaimed. 
"  How  villainously  early  !  I  wish  to  good- 
ness I  had  not  lost  my  temper  though.  It 
was  slightly  imbecile.  If  the  poor,  old  gentle- 
man enjoys  being  offensive,  why  should  n't 
he  be  so  ?  He  has  none  too  many  oppor- 
tunities of  amusement." 


46       The  Gate/ess  Barrier 

He  paused,  looking  down  the  bright,  vacant, 
silent  corridor,  past  the  open  doors  of  all  the 
bright,  vacant,  silent  rooms. 

"  If  it  comes  to  that,  nor  have  I."  he  added, 
"  when  I  come  to  think  of  it.  There 's  a 
notable  paucity  of  excitement  in  this  exist- 
ence, and  this  beastly  hot  air  makes  one  too 
muzzy  to  read."  He  yawned.  —  "What  a 
mercy  Virginia  did  n't  come  !  She  would 
have  been  most  extensively  and  articulately 
bored." 

He  sauntered  aimlessly  along  the  passage, 
past  the  fine,  copper-plate  engravings,  and  the 
impassive,  Roman  emperors,  and  drew  up 
before  the  great,  tapestry  curtain.  Again  he 
looked  curiously  at  the  figures  worked  so 
skilfully  upon  it.  The  light  took  the  silken 
surface,  bringing  the  warm  flesh-tints  into 
high  relief,  against  the  dim,  grey-green  back- 
ground of  shadowy  hill  and  grove. 

"  No  wonder  my  uncle  blasphemes  if  that 
represents  his  only  idea  of  the  relation  of  the 
sexes." 

He  sighed  involuntarily. 

"  Yes,  but,  thank  God,  there  is  more  in  it 
all  than  merely  that,"  he  said.  Then  he  re- 


The  Gateless  Barrier      47 

peated  :  —  "It  is  a  mercy  Virginia  did  not 
come.  It  would  not  have  suited  her  from 
any  point  of  view.  She  'd  have  been  hide- 
ously bored,  and  she  would  have  been 
offended  and  a  good  deal  shocked.  It  is 
queer  the  way  the  Puritanic  element  survives 
over  there,  notwithstanding  their  modernity." 

Laurence  smiled  to  himself,  becoming  aware 
of  the  slight  inconsistency  of  his  own  attitude 
—  his  late  heated  championship  of  the  claims 
of  the  Eternal  Feminine,  his  self-congratula- 
tion at  the  fact  that  his  own  particular  in- 
vestment in  the  matter  of  womanhood  was, 
at  present,  safely  away  on  the  other  side  of 
the  Atlantic. 

Then,  taken  by  a  sudden  impulse — born 
in  part  of  a  desire  of  escape  from  the  suffo- 
cating atmosphere  around  him — he  pulled  the 
edge  of  the  heavy  curtain  outwards,  passed 
round  it,  letting  it  drop  into  place  behind 
him.  He  stood  a  moment  in  a  contracted, 
blind  space.  The  place  seemed  possessed  of 
singular  influences.  Again  he  grew  faint  as 
he  groped  for  the  door  handle ;  while  a  con- 
viction grew  upon  him  that  he  had  stood  just 
here,  and  so  groped  an  innumerable  number 


48       "The  Gateless  Barrier 

of  times  already,  and  that  he  should  so  stand 
and  grope  —  either  in  fact  or  in  imagination, 
just  as  long,  indeed,  as  consciousness  remained 
to  him — an  innumerable  number  of  times 
again. 

At  last  the  handle  was  found  and  yielded. 
Breathing  rather  quickly,  Laurence  entered 
the  lofty,  fair-coloured  room.  It  too  was 
bright  with  electric  light,  but  the  air  of  it 
was  sensibly  purer  than  that  of  the  corridor  ; 
while,  standing  before  the  painted  satinwood 
escritoire,  at  the  further  side  of  the  fireplace, 
was  a  slender  woman.  Her  back  was  to- 
wards him.  She  wore  a  high-waisted,  cling- 
ing, rose-pink,  silken  gown.  Her  dark  hair 
was  gathered  up  in  soft,  yet  elaborate,  bows 
and  curls  high  on  her  small  head,  after  the 
fashion  prevalent  in  the  early  years  of  the 
century.  A  cape  of  transparent  muslin  and 
lace  veiled  her  bare  shoulders. 


I 


VI 

young  man's  astonishment  was 
immense.     Recovering  from  the  first 
shock  of  it,  he  was  taken  with  repre- 
hensible irreverence  towards  the  sick 
man  upstairs. 

"  The  old  sinner,  how  he  has  lied !  "  he 
said  to  himself.  "  A  pretty  ass  he  has  made 
of  me  with  this  card  up  his  iniquitous,  old 
sleeve  all  the  while!  " 

He  debated  momentarily  whether  good 
manners  demanded  his  retirement  before  his 
presence  was  perceived ;  or  whether  he  was 
free  to  go  forward  and  make  acquaintance 
with  this  unacknowledged  member  of  his 
uncle's  household.  Strong  curiosity,  coupled 
with  a  spirit  of  mischief,  provoked  him  to 
adopt  the  latter  course.  He  owed  it  to  him- 
self, surely,  not  to  neglect  so  handsome  an 
opportunity  of  turning  the  tables  upon  old 
Mr.  Rivers.  While,  astonishment  and  levity, 
notwithstanding,  Laurence  was  aware  of  a 
strong  attraction  drawing  him  towards  the 
slender,  rose-clad  figure.  He  began  to  ques- 
tion, indeed,  whether  it,  like  the  room  and 

4 


50       The  Gateless  Barrier 

its  furnishings,  was  not  in  a  degree  familiar 
to  him  ?  Whether  it  was  not  the  embodi- 
ment of  just  all  that  of  which  he  had  been  so 
singularly  expectant  when  visiting  the  room 
this  same  morning  ? 

Meanwhile  the  young  lady's  hands  moved 
over  the  rounded  cover  of  the  escritoire  as 
though  endeavouring  to  open  it.  The  lace 
frills,  edging  her  muslin  cape,  flew  upwards, 
showing  her  bare  arms.  These  were  thin,  but 
beautifully  shaped  ;  while  the  movement  of 
her  hands  was  singularly  graceful  and  rapid. 
She  touched,  yet  seemed  unable  firmly  to 
grasp  the  gilded  handles  of  the  escritoire 
again  and  again ;  clasped  her  hands,  as  it 
appeared  to  Laurence  —  for  her  back  was  still 
towards  him  —  with  a  baffled,  despairing  ges- 
ture, and  then  moved  away  across  the  room. 
She  appeared  to  flit  rather  than  walk,  so  light 
and  silent  were  her  steps,  bird-like  in  their 
swift  and  dainty  grace.  Watching  her,  Lau- 
rence was  reminded  of  a  certain  Spanish 
danseuse,  who,  during  the  previous  winter, 
had  excited  the  wild  enthusiasm  and  consid- 
erably lightened  the  pockets  of  the  jeunesse 
doree  of  New  York.  But  the  charm  of  the 


The  Gateless  Barrier      51 

dancer  had,  for  him  at  least,  been  spoilt  by 
the  somewhat  unbridled  pride  of  success  per- 
ceptible in  her  bearing.  Whereas  the  flitting 
figure  now  before  him,  notwithstanding  the 
beguiling  loveliness  of  its  motions,  struck 
him  as  penetrated  with  the  sorrow  of  failure, 
rather  than  the  arrogance  of  success. 

She  wandered  to  and  fro,  regardless  or 
unconscious  of  his  presence,  searching  — 
searching  —  as  it  seemed  ;  passing  her  hands 
over  the  work-table,  sweeping  them  along 
the  surface  of  the  chimney-piece  between  the 
ornaments  and  china,  fingering  the  music 
upon  the  piano.  He  caught  sight  of  a  deli- 
cate profile,  a  round  and  youthful  cheek. 
But  her  movements  were  so  anxious  and 
rapid  that  he  could  get  no  definite  view  of 
her  face.  Indeed,  her  action  was  so  quick 
that  it  was  not  without  effort  Laurence 
followed  it. 

At  first  the  young  man's  attitude  had  been 
one  of  slightly  irritated  amusement  at  the 
concealment  practised  on  him  by  his  host. 
But  as  the  rose-clad  lady's  search  continued, 
the  sense  of  amusement  was  merged  in  one 
of  sympathy.  She  was  so  graceful  a  creature. 


52       'The  Gateless  Barrier 

She  appeared  so  sadly  baffled  and  perplexed. 
A  subtle  anxiety  laid  hold  of  him  —  an  ap- 
prehension that  something  momentous  and 
of  far-reaching  consequence  to  himself  was 
in  act  of  accomplishment — that  he  was  him- 
self deeply  involved,  and  pledged  by  a  long 
train  of  antecedent  circumstances  to  assist 
those  delicately  framed  and  apparently  so 
helpless  hands  in  their  unceasing  search. 

"Pardon  me,  but  what  have  you  lost?" 
he  asked  her  at  last,  speaking  gently  as  to  a 
timid  and  unhappy  child.  "  Tell  me,  and 
let  me  try  to  help  you  find  it." 

At  the  sound  of  his  voice  the  flitting  figure 
paused,  stood  a  moment  listening,  as  though 
striving  to  collect  the  purport  of  his  address. 
Then  it  turned  to  him.  For  the  first  time 
Laurence  saw  his  companion's  face  clearly, 
and  he  shrank  back,  penetrated  at  once  by  a 
great  admiration  and  a  vague  dread  of  her. 
For  it  was  a  very  lovely  face,  but  shy  and 
wild  as  no  other  human  face  he  had  ever 
beheld.  The  sweet  mouth  drooped  at  the 
corners,  as  with  some  haunting,  but  half-com- 
prehended distress.  The  eyes  were  serious  ; 
blue-purple  —  as  are  deep,  high-lying,  moun- 


The  Gateless  Barrier       53 

tain  tarns,  set  in  a  soft  gloom  of  pine-trees 
and  of  heather.  A  gentle  distraction  per- 
vaded the  young  lady's  aspect.  And  this  was 
the  more  arresting,  that  each  bow  and  curl  of 
her  pretty  hair  was  in  place ;  every  detail  of 
her  dress  fresh  and  finished,  from  the  string 
of  pearls  about  her  white  throat,  to  the  toes 
of  her  rose-pink,  satin  slippers,  sparkling 
with  an  embroidery  of  brilliants,  which 
showed  beneath  the  small  flounce  edging  her 
rose-pink  skirt. 

Laurence  had  lived  at  least  as  virtuously 
as  most  men  of  his  class ;  yet  it  would  be 
idle  to  declare  Virginia  his  first  and  only 
flame.  He  had  married  her,  which  consti- 
tuted the  difference  between  her  and  all  those 
other  flames  —  and  at  times  it  occurred  to  him 
what  a  prodigiously  great  difference  that  was  ! 
Since  his  marriage  he  had  been  guiltless  of 
looking  to  the  right  hand  or  to  the  left  even 
in  thought.  But,  before  that  event,  it  must 
be  owned,  he  had  had  his  due  share  of  affairs 
of  the  heart.  He  was  thoroughly  conversant 
with  the  premonitory  symptoms  of  that  fasci- 
nating disorder,  commonly  known  as  "  falling 
in  love."  And,  to  his  dismay,  as  he  looked 


54       'The  Gateless  Barrier 

on  the  sad  and  lovely  person  before  him,  he 
was  conscious  that  some  of  those  premonitory 
symptoms  were  not  entirely  absent.  An 
immense  pity  and  tenderness  took  him ;  a 
deepening  conviction,  too,  of  recollection,  as 
one  who  after  a  long  lapse  of  years  hears 
again  some  almost  forgotten  melody,  or  sees 
again  a  once  well-known  and  well-beloved 
landscape.  The  sad  face  was  new  to  him, 
not  in  itself,  but  in  its  sadness  only.  The 
corners  of  the  sweet  mouth  should  not  droop, 
but  tip  upward  in  soft,  discreet  laughter. 
The  serious  eyes  should  dance,  as  the  surface 
of  these  same  mountain  tarns  in  sunlight 
under  a  rippling  breeze.  The  face,  remem- 
bered thus,  had  indeed  never  been  wholly 
forgotten — he  knew  that.  It  formed  part 
of  inherent  prenatal  impressions,  of  which, 
all  his  life,  he  had  been  potentially  if  not 
actively  aware. 

All  this  flashed  through  him  in  the  space 
of  a  few  seconds ;  while  he  repeated,  some- 
what staggered  by  the  fulness  of  emotion 
which  the  tones  of  his  own  voice  implied  — 

"Only  tell  me  what  you  have  lost  —  tell 
me ;  and  let  me  help  you  find  it."  —  Then 


The  Gateless  Barrier      55 

he  added  more  lightly,  smiling  at  her  with 
his  sincere  and  kindly  smile  : — "Really,  my 
services  are  worth  enlisting.  I  Ve  always 
been  a  rather  famous  hand  at  finding  things, 
you  know." 

She  gazed  at  the  young  man  for  a  minute 
or  more,  a  tremulous  wonder  in  her  expres- 
sion, while  she  fingered  the  string  of  pearls 
about  her  rounded  throat.  Her  lips  moved, 
but  no  sound  came  from  them.  Her  attitude 
changed.  She  stood  with  her  head  raised, 
apparently  listening.  Then  reluctantly,  as 
in  obedience  to  some  unwelcome  summons, 
she  moved  swiftly  across  the  room  to  the 
outstanding,  painted  satinwood  escritoire, 
passed  at  the  back  of  it,  and  the  young  man 
found  himself  alone. 


VII 


1 


CHOUGH  usually  an  excellent 
sleeper,  Laurence  passed  a  restless 
night.  Like  most  sane  persons,  he 
was  disposed  to  resent  that  which 
he  could  not  account  for ;  and,  with  the  best 
will  in  the  world  to  evolve  ingenious  hypo- 
theses explanatory  of  her  disappearance,  the 
manner  of  his  sweet  companion's  going  re- 
mained a  mystery.  He  had  examined  the 
escritoire,  and  found  it  locked.  He  had  also 
examined  the  wall-space  in  its  vicinity.  This 
was  hung,  from  cornice  to  wainscot,  with  pale 
yellow-and-white  brocade,  as  was  all  the  room. 
But  neither  behind  the  brocade,  nor  in  the 
wainscot,  was  any  door  or  sliding  panel  dis- 
coverable. Indeed,  when  he  came  to  think 
of  it,  remembering  the  structure  of  the  house 
as  he  had  seen  it  on  his  way  along  the  south 
front  to  the  stables,  that  side  of  the  room 
consisted  of  a  blank  wall,  doorless  and  win- 
dowless.  This  fact,  when  he  realised  it, 
caused  Laurence  something  of  a  shock.  It 
was  unpleasant  to  him.  And  so  he  took 
refuge  in  scepticism.  He  laughed  at  himself, 


The  Gateless  Barrier       57 

declaring  that  the  unwholesome  atmosphere 
of  the  house,  and  the  lonely,  uneventful  life 
he  was  compelled  to  lead,  were  breeding  mor- 
bid fancies  in  him.  All  that  talk  about 
woman  and  the  relation  of  the  sexes  had 
stamped  itself  upon  his  mind  in  an  exag- 
gerated way,  thanks  to  his  surroundings. 
The  musky  scent  of  the  orchids  had  a  word 
to  say  in  the  matter  too,  no  doubt.  So  had 
his  revulsion  from  the  gross  suggestions  of 
the  scene  represented  on  the  tapestry  curtain. 
Heavy  sleep,  amounting  almost  to  torpor, 
induced  by  the  heavy  atmosphere,  had  fallen 
upon  him  directly  after  he  had  entered  that 
strangely  engaging  and  familiar  room.  And, 
in  that  sleep,  imagination  had  created  a 
woman  who  should  embody  all  that  which 
the  room  and  its  furnishings  suggested  —  an 
ideal  woman,  far  away  alike  from  the  brilliant 
young  leader  of  smart  society  whom  he  had 
married  —  but  on  this  clause  Laurence  re- 
fused to  allow  his  thoughts  to  dwell  —  and 
from  the  mere  human  brood-mare,  whom 
his  uncle  pronounced  to  be  the  only  admis- 
sible exponent  of  the  Eternal  Feminine.  He 
had  dreamed  a  poem  —  one  of  those  poems 


58       "The  Gateless  Barrier 

he  kept  at  the  bottom  of  his  despatch-box, 
and  had  never  felt  any  inclination  to  read 
aloud  to  Virginia  —  had  dreamed  instead  of 
writing  it,  that  was  all. 

Laurence  got  out  of  bed  and  threw  open 
the  window.  Where  the  eastern  angle  of  the 
house  stood  out  dark  against  the  sky,  he 
could  see  the  pallor  of  the  dawn  warming 
into  rose,  while  overhead  the  stars  died  out 
one  by  one  as  the  light  broadened. 

"Yes,  the  vision  of  a  dream,"  he  said  to 
himself.  "  Only  another  of  those  thousand 
exquisite  things  which  belong  to  the  language 
of  symbol,  and  possess,  alas !  no  tally  in 
reality  —  reality,  that  is,  as  most  of  us  hide- 
bound victims  of  conventionality  are  destined 
to  know  it."  —  He  laughed  a  little  grimly. — 
<c  Reality,  as  we  know  it,  being  precisely 
the  biggest  illusion  of  all !  " 

He  watched  the  fading  stars,  the  deepening 
rose  and  gold  of  day,  above  the  woods  and 
lawns,  the  black  cypresses  and  white  statues 
upon  the  northern  boundary  of  the  Italian 
garden.  Starlings  chattered  joyously  from 
the  gutters  under  the  eaves ;  and  then  swept 
down,  with  a  rush  of  passing  wings,  on  to  the 


The  Gateless  Barrier      59 

grass.  A  keeper,  gun  on  shoulder,  with  a 
busy,  little,  black  cooking-spaniel,  and  a  long- 
limbed,  red,  Irish  setter  behind  him,  crossed 
the  rough  downward  slope  of  the  park  ;  and 
the  wide,  blue-grey  landscape  began  to  grow 
definite,  to  assert  itself  right  away  up  to  the 
horizon.  The  earth  seemed  to  awake  with 
a  quiet  smile  from  the  kindly  sleep  of  night. 

Laurence  drank  in  his  fill  of  the  moist, 
sharp  air. 

"  Poor  dear  Virginia  !  "  he  said  suddenly. 
And  it  was  probably  the  very  first  time  in 
her  whole  life  that  this  popular,  admirably 
finished,  and  much  admired  young  lady  had 
ever  excited  pity. 

After  breakfast  Laurence  set  forth  to  visit 
his  clerical  correspondent,  and  strive  to  ease 
the  latter's  conscience  while  refusing  his  re- 
quest. The  rectory,  distant  about  three- 
quarters  of  a  mile,  stood  on  the  rising  ground 
across  the  valley,  backed  by  a  fringe  of  high- 
lying  woods.  The  church,  a  small  but  very 
perfect  example  of  Norman  architecture, 
closely  adjoined  the  house.  There  were  good 
details  of  carving  about  the  narrow,  round- 
headed  windows  of  the  chancel,  and  the  low, 


60       The  Gate/ess  Barrier 

heavy  arch  of  the  porch  —  the  floor  of  which 
was  sunk  several  steps  below  the  level  of 
the  churchyard.  The  tower,  square  and  solid, 
but  little  higher  than  the  roof  of  the  nave, 
was  surmounted  by  a  squat,  shingled  spire. 
It  struck  Laurence  as  a  calm,  self-contained, 
little  building,  on  which  the  centuries  had 
set  but  slight  mark  of  decay.  The  church- 
yard, too  —  shadowed  by  a  few  ancient  yew- 
trees  —  was  singularly  peaceful,  full  for  the 
most  part  of  unnamed,  grass-grown  graves. 
Death,  seen  thus,  had  nothing  awful,  nothing 
repulsive,  about  it — quiet  "rest  after  toil," 
it  amounted  to  no  more  than  that. 

But  then  the  charm  of  spring  was  in  the 
air,  and  the  young  man  was  pleasantly  be- 
guiled by  it.  He  sat  down  on  the  broad 
coping  of  the  churchyard  wall,  lighted  a  ciga- 
rette, and  idly  watched  the  rooks  streaming 
out  from  the  rectory  elms,  and  dropping  on 
the  fragrant,  fresh-turned  earth  of  a  plough- 
field  in  the  valley.  He  listened  idly  to  the 
nimble  wind  that  blew  up  from  the  ten-mile- 
distant  sea,  sang  in  the  woodland  above,  and 
whispered  through  the  dark,  plume-like 
branches  of  the  yews  here  in  this  sheltered 


'The  Gateless  Barrier       61 

piece  of  ground.  The  sky  was  a  thin,  bright 
blue,  and  across  it  wandered  little  clouds,  like 
flocks  of  white  sheep,  herded  by  that  same 
nimble  wind  up  from  the  Channel. 

It  seemed  to  Laurence  that  here,  indeed, 
would  be  a  pleasant  enough  place  to  lie  when 
life  was  over.  But  then  that  time  had  by  no 
means  arrived  for  him  yet.  He  felt  again  — 
as  he  had  felt  that  night  on  board  ship  —  that 
he  had  never  done  complete  justice  to  his  own 
capacity.  Whether  the  fault  lay  in  himself 
or  in  circumstance,  he  could  not  say ;  but  he 
knew  that  neither  body,  nor  mind,  nor  heart, 
had  worked  up  to  their  full  strength  yet. 
Ambition  of  some  notable  and  absorbing 
undertaking  stirred  in  him.  He  looked  out 
over  the  goodly  land.  Would  this  by  no 
means  contemptible  inheritance,  on  the  thresh- 
old of  the  possession  of  which  he  now  stood, 
afford  him  his  great  opportunity  ?  And  then 
his  thought  harked  back  to  the  lovely  and 
pathetic  vision  which  had  blessed  his  sleep  — 
for,  of  course,  he  was  asleep  —  last  night. 
A  man  could  find  fulness  of  satisfaction  in 
a  great  passion  for  such  a  woman  —  if  so  be 
she  actually  existed,  instead  of  being  only  the 


62.       The  Gateless  Barrier 

ideal  vision  of  an  ideal  dream.  Yes,  a  man 
could  go  very  far  down  that  road  if — if — 
And  there  Laurence,  being  a  decent  fellow, 
laid  strong  hands  on  his  imagination.  To 
indulge  it  was  just  simply  not  right,  since 
whatever  woman's  existence  might  belong  to 
the  land  of  fancy,  his  wife,  Virginia's,  belonged, 
to  the  land  of  very  positive  fact.  He  got  up, 
shook  himself,  and  walked  away  to  the  rectory 
house,  through  the  sunshine  and  shadow  of 
the  peaceful,  country  graveyard. 


VIII 

MR.  REAL  received  his  guest  with 
an  agitation  in  which  natural  timid- 
ity warred  with  professional  pride. 
He  laboured  under  the  conviction 
that  he  was  called  upon  at  all  times  and  in 
all  places  to  maintain  the  dignity  of  the 
Anglican  Church.  He  believed  she  was  very 
much  in  the  midst  of  foes,  Rome  and  Non- 
conformity alike  perpetually  plotting  her 
downfall ;  while  Atheism  cruised  about  in  the 
offing  ever  ready  to  seize  any  who  escaped 
the  machinations  of  these  more  declared 
enemies.  And,  unfortunately,  the  young 
man,  neither  in  appearance  nor  constitution, 
was  a  born  fighter,  or  even  a  born  diploma- 
tist. In  appearance  he  was  mild,  with  sandy, 
down-like  hair,  a  high  narrow  forehead  and 
freckled  skin,  pale,  anxious  eyes  behind  spec- 
tacles, and  a  moist  white  hand.  He  opened 
the  front  door  to  Laurence  himself;  and  it 
occurred  to  the  latter  that  his  clothes  were 
very  black,  and  that  he  wore  a  great  many 
of  them. 

cc  Mr.  Laurence  Rivers,   I   presume  ?  "  he 


64       The  Gateless  Barrier 

said,  looking  up  nervously  into  his  guest's 
face. 

"Yes;  I  thought  it  would  be  simplest  to 
answer  your  letter  in  person,"  the  other  re- 
plied. He  felt  a  certain  kindly  pity  for  the 
young  clergyman,  whose  existence  he  divined 
to  be  of  a  somewhat  limited  and  unproduc- 
tive sort.  —  "  I  should  have  given  myself  the 
pleasure  of  calling  on  you  in  any  case  in  a 
day  or  two.  But  your  letter  seemed  to  re- 
quire attention  at  once.  I  am  sorry  you  are 
having  any  bother  about — " 

"  Will  you  not  come  in  ?  "  Mr.  Real  asked 
hurriedly.  "  Our  conversation  might  be  over- 
heard and  commented  upon.  This  way,  please. 
You  will  excuse  the  dining-room  ?  I  always 
occupy  this  room  during  the  winter  months. 
It  is  both  necessary  and  right  that  I  should 
practise  economy,  and  to  occupy  this  room 
exclusively  saves  a  fire." 

In  his  nervousness  Mr.  Beal  talked  con- 
tinuously. 

"  Pray  take  a  seat,"  he  said,  pushing  for- 
ward an  armchair,  the  leather  cover  and 
springs  of  which  were  decidedly  tired.  "  1 
at  once  begged  you  to  come  in  here,  because 


The  Gateless  Barrier      65 

in  speaking  of  personal  and  parochial  matters 
one  cannot,  I  feel,  be  too  careful.  Mr.  Win- 
gate —  the  rector  of  Stoke  Rivers,  you  know 

—  wished,  I  am  sure,  to  treat  me  with  gener- 

3  '  D 

osity  when  I  undertook  the  duty  here.  He 
not  only  placed  the  whole  of  this  house  at 
my  disposal,  but  he  left  two  female  servants 

—  not   on  board    wages  —  an   elderly   woman 
and  a  younger  person  as  her  assistant.     The 
intention   was   generous,   I    feel   sure;   but    I 
grieve  to  say  they  are  not  such  staunch  church- 
women  as  I  could  desire,  and  this  has  led  to 
difficulties  between  us.     I  thought  it  my  duty 
to  admonish  them,  separately,  of  course,  suit- 
ing my  remonstrances  to  their  respective  ages 
and   dispositions.      But  they   did  not   receive 
my  admonitions  in  a  submissive  spirit.     Since 
then   I   have    found    it    necessary    to    exercise 
great  caution.     There  has  been  much  gossip. 
Remarks  of  mine  have  been  repeated,  and  that 
not    in   a  manner    calculated  to  improve  my 
position  with  the  parishioners.    My  actions  are 
spied  upon.     There  is  a  small,   but  bigoted, 
dissenting  element  in  the  village,  and  —  " 

"  Ah  !   yes,  they  're  a  nuisance,  I  dare  say," 
Laurence     put     in,    smiling.       "Still,    it's    a 

5 


66      T'he  Gateless  Barrier 

charming  place,  all  the  same.  I  have  just 
been  poking  round  the  church.  There  are 
some  wonderfully  quaint  bits  about  it.  And 
I  like  the  churchyard." 

"  I  could  wish  to  have  the  graves  levelled, 
and  the  head  and  foot  stones  placed  neatly 
in  line  on  the  confines  of  the  enclosure." 

"Oh!  no,  no;  that  would  destroy  the 
character  of  the  place.  We  can't  carry  any- 
thing away  with  us  —  granted  —  when  we  go. 
And  so  there  's  a  certain  subjective  comfort 
in  knowing  we  leave  a  little  mound  of  earth 
and  turf  behind  to  mark  our  resting-place. 
That's  hardly  ostentatious,  considering  our 
pretensions  during  life  —  do  you  think  so  ?  " 

Mr.  Beal  shifted  the  position  of  his  spec- 
tacles. He  braced  himself. 

"  The  churchyard  has  been  levelled  at 
Bishop's  Pudbury,"  he  said.  "  I  had  the 
privilege  of  being  assistant  priest  there  for 
five  years.  The  archdeacon  is  considered  a 
man  of  great  taste." 

"  I  should  have  thought  the  parishioners 
would  have  objected  now,"  Laurence  re- 
marked. 

"So    they    did,"    Mr.    Beal    replied.      "I 


The  Gateless  Barrier       67 

grieve  to  say  some  persons  displayed  a  most 
illiberal  spirit.  They  called  meetings,  and 
behaved  in  a  really  seditious  manner.  Many 
even  became  guilty  of  the  sin  of  schism. 
They  ceased  to  attend  the  church  services, 
and  frequented  dissenting  places  of  worship. 
The  archdeacon  was  pained  ;  but  he  felt  a  prin- 
ciple was  at  stake.  He  has  long  contended 
that  the  churchyard  is  legally  the  rector's  free- 
hold. He  therefore  felt  it  a  duty  to  the 
Church  to  be  firm." 

Laurence  contemplated  the  young  clergy- 
man with  a  touch  of  good-natured  amusement, 
wondering  if,  with  that  anaemic  physique,  he 
was  capable  of  emulating  the  militant  virtues 
of  the  archdeacon-rector  of  Bishop's  Pudbury. 

"  But  about  this  letter  of  yours,  Mr.  Beal," 
he  said.  "  That 's  what  I  came  to  talk  to 
you  about." 

"  I  am  afraid  my  conversation  has  been  a 
little  irrelevant.  But — but  —  "  the  young 
man  sat  opposite  to  Laurence,  shifting  his 
spectacles,  and  washing  his  hands  in  an  access 
of  nervousness.  "  I  confess  I  am  not  quite 
myself  this  morning,  Mr.  Rivers.  I  was 
made  an  object  of  public  ridicule  last  night." 


68       "The  Gateless  Barrier 

"  I  am  very  sorry  to  hear  it.  How  was 
that  ? " 

"  I  think  I  am  at  liberty  to  tell  you, 
because  the  incident  took  its  rise  in  your 
uncle,  the  elder  Mr.  Rivers',  refusal  to  re- 
ceive me.  You  see  it  is  known  how  often  I 
have  been  repulsed.  Last  night  we  had  the 
weekly  choir  practice  at  the  school.  While 
it  was  in  progress,  I  was  called  and  informed 
by  the  pupil-teacher  —  whom  I  excuse  of 
participation  in  the  unseemly  jest  —  that  Mr. 
Rivers  had  sent  for  me,  and  that  his  carriage 
was  waiting  at  the  gate.  This  surprised  me  ; 
but  I  supposed  you  might  have  received,  and 
immediately  responded  to,  the  request  con- 
tained in  my  note.  I  excused  myself  to  the 
organist  and  choir,  and  hastily  put  on  my  hat 
and  coat.  I  hurried  out,  but  some  ill-dis- 
posed youths  had  placed  strings  across  the 
school  door.  I  fell.  The  ground  was  ex- 
ceedingly muddy.  My  reappearance  was 
greeted  with  hardly  concealed  derision.  I 
discovered  the  whole  matter  was  a  vulgar 
hoax." 

"  Ah !  that 's  very  much  too  bad," 
Laurence  said  kindly,  though  the  picture 


The  Gateless  Barrier      69 

suggested  by  the  young  clergyman's  story 
provoked  him  to  internal  mirth.  "  We  must 
straighten  this  out  somehow.  And  yet  I  tell 
you  frankly  your  letter  placed  me  in  a  diffi- 
culty. Even  when  in  good  health  my  uncle 
was  not  an  easy  person  to  approach,  and  now, 
as  you  know,  he  is  fatally  ill  —  " 

"  I  would  deal  with  him  very  gently,"  Mr. 
Beal  remarked,  bracing  himself. 

"  I  am  sure  of  that.  But  I  am  afraid  he 
might  deal  anything  but  gently  with  you." 

"  I  think  —  I  believe  —  I  am  prepared  to 
suffer  for  my  faith." 

"  I  am  sure  of  that,"  Laurence  repeated 
consolingly.  "  But  it  appears  to  me  this 
would  be  both  a  superfluous  and  inglorious 
martyrdom.  My  uncle  is  perfectly  secure  of 
his  own  position  and  opinions.  The  latter 
are  peculiar,  and  he  has  a  very  trenchant  way 
of  stating  them." 

"  You  would  convey  to  me  that  I  should  be 
worsted  in  argument  ?  "  Mr.  Beal  inquired. 

"  Yes,  I  really  am  more  than  half  afraid 
you  would.  And  so,  you  see,  no  end  would 
be  gained.  You  would  be  pained,  and 
possibly  humiliated  ;  while  my  uncle's  victory 


yo       The  Gateless  Barrier 

would  render  him  more  stubborn  in  the 
maintenance  of  his  own  views.  He  would 
be  irritated  too,  and  that  might  accelerate  the 
action  of  the  disease  from  which  he  suffers. 
Remember,  he 's  both  old  and  ill.  I  own 
I  think  he  must  just  go  his  own  way.  I 
hesitate  to  coerce  him." 

During  this  address  Walter  Beal  had  washed 
his  moist  hands  in  a  very  agony  of  agita- 
tion. This  handsome  stranger  impressed  him 
greatly.  He  was  sympathetic,  moreover,  a 
patient  and  kindly  listener.  The  young 
clergyman  could  have  found  it  in  his  heart  to 
adore  him  with  a  humble  and  dog-like  devo- 
tion. But  then  his  own  professional  dignity 
must  be  asserted.  So  he  whipped  down  his 
natural  and  wholesome  inclination  to  hero- 
worship,  and  whipped  up  his  rather  spavined, 
ecclesiastical  valour ;  and  said,  with  all  the 
sternness  his  tremulous  voice  could  com- 
mand — 

"  I  fear  you  are  not  a  true  Christian,  Mr. 
Rivers,  or  you  would  find  no  room  for 
hesitation  where  the  salvation  of  a  soul  is 
involved." 

Laurence  turned  his  chair  sideways  to  the 


The  Gateless  Barrier      71 

dinner-table,  crossed  his  legs,  and  rested  his 
elbow  on  the  bare,  white  cloth.  Some 
crumbs  remained  on  it,  left  over  from 
Walter  Real's  breakfast ;  but  happily  they 
were  at  the  far  corner.  The  young  man 
deserved  a  snub,  but  he  was  an  innocent 
creature,  a  great  sincerity  in  his  foolishness. 
Laurence  looked  out  of  window,  across  to  the 
sunny  peaceful  churchyard.  After  all,  why^ 
be  harsh?  Why  snub  anybody?  So  he 
smiled  again  genially  enough  upon  the  dis- 
tracted Beal. 

"  Oh !  we  must  discuss  the  heights  and 
depths  of  my  Christianity  some  other  time," 
he  said.  "  The  point  is  to  stop  this  imper- 
tinence of  which  you  are  the  victim.  Look 
here,  honestly  I  don't  see  my  way  to  making 
a  meeting  between  you  and  my  uncle  at 
present.  But  as  you  can't  get  the  uncle,  let 
me  beg  you  to  put  up  with  the  nephew. 
Let  it  be  known  that  you  and  I  are  on  excel- 
lent terms.  Come  and  see  me.  Let's  see  — 
to-morrow  evening  I  shall  be  free  till  half-past 
nine  or  ten.  Come  and  dine  with  me." 

But  Mr.  Beal  shrunk  back  and  raised  his 
moist,  white  hands  in  protest. 


72       'The  Gateless  Barrier 

"Oh,  no!"  he  exclaimed.  "That  is,  I 
am  sure  your  intentions  are  most  kind,  most 
kind  —  indeed,  indeed,  really,  I  am  sure  of 
that.  But  except  professionally,  except  at 
the  urgent  call  of  duty  —  and  then  grace 
would  be  given  me  —  I  felt  that  yesterday 
when  I  received  the  summons  during  the 
choir  practice — I  prayed — I  was  praying 
when  those  strings  intercepted  my  passage 
and  caused  me  to  fall  —  I  knew  I  should  be 
supported  —  but,  except  professionally,  I 
could  not  make  up  my  mind  to  enter  that 
house  —  Stoke  Rivers.  And  after  dark  too! 
I  could  not.  It  would  be  too  dreadful." 

Laurence  stared  at  him  blankly.  "  Why, 
my  good  man,"  he  said,  laughing  a  little, 
"  what  on  earth  is  the  matter  with  the 
house  ?  " 

"  I  understand  that  it  contains  pictures 
and  statues  of  an  immoral  character.  It  is 
very  frightful  to  think  of  a  soul,  the  soul 
of  a  scoffer,  of  one  who  speaks  lightly  of 
holy  things,  going  forth  to  meet  its  doom 
from  among  such  heathenish  surroundings.  — 
But  it  is  not  that  so  much  which  deters  me. 
I  ought  to  cope  with  that,  strong  in  faith. 


The  Gateless  Barrier      73 

But  from  a  child,  I  own  it,  I  have  suffered 
from  the  fear  of  the  supernatural." 

Laurence's  eyebrows  drew  together.  "  The 
supernatural,"  he  said. 

"  Yes  —  yes  —  the  supernatural." 

Laurence  paused  a  moment,  gazing  down 
at  the  worn  drugget  between  his  feet. 

"  Look  here,"  he  said,  "  either  you  are 
talking  great  nonsense,  or  there  is  something 
uncommonly  serious  at  the  bottom  of  all  this, 
of  which  I  ought  to  be  informed.  Tell  me 
plainly,  what  are  you  afraid  of?  " 

"  There,  there  are  lights  all  night." 

"  Certainly  there  are.  The  electric  light 
is  left  on.  It  is  a  fancy  of  my  uncle's  —  and 
not  an  unreasonable  one  in  time  of  illness. 
If  your  fears  take  their  rise  in  nothing  worse 
than  that,  why  — "  Laurence  shrugged  his 
shoulders. 

"Oh!  but  — but  — "  Mr.  Real's  voice 
sunk  to  a  whisper,  and  his  pale  eyes  looked 
piteously  upon  his  guest  from  behind  his 
spectacles.  "  It  is  commonly  reported  there 
is  a  female  in  the  house  — " 

Laurence  shook  his  head.  — "  Oh,  no, 
pardon  me,"  he  said.  "  That  is  a  mistake. 


74       The  Gateless  Barrier 

There  are  only  men-servants  in  the  house. 
That  I  know.  No  lady  has  stayed  at  Stoke 
Rivers — so  my  uncle  informed  me  —  since 
my  mother  stayed  there  with  me  when  I  was 
quite  a  small  boy." 

"  But  —  but,"  poor  Walter  Beal  almost 
wailed,  "  I  don't  mean  any  lady  visitor.  The 

—  the  Scarlet  Woman  —  you  know.     I  under- 
stand   the   keepers   have  frequently   seen    her 
at   night   at    the   windows    downstairs.     And 
I     believe     I     saw     her     once      this     winter 
myself — " 

"  Saw  her  yourself?" 

"  Yes  ;  I  had  been  to  call  and  inquire  for 
Mr.  Rivers.  It  was  dusk,  and  I  was  much 
alarmed  at  going;  but  I  would  not  permit 
myself  to  neglect  a  duty.  I  was  going  back 
up  the  avenue,  when  I  saw  a  person  in  a  red 
dress  coming  out  from  the  bow-window.  I 

—  I  —  I  —  I  —  did  not  wait  —  " 
Laurence    had    risen.      He    stood    for     a 

moment  speechless.  Then  a  sudden  gladness 
took  him.  The  sun  was  bright  outside  there, 
but  the  yew-trees  waved  their  dusky  arms 
quaintly,  making  little  shadows  dance  and 
flit  upon  the  churchyard  grass. 


The  Gateless  Barrier      75 

<f  No  —  I  see.  You  ran  away,"  he  said. 
"  Well,  Mr.  Beal,  perhaps  that  was  the  very 
best  thing  under  the  circumstances  that  you 
could  have  done.  —  You  can't  make  up  your 
mind  to  dine  with  me  ?  All  right,  I  '11  come 
and  see  you  then.  We'll  let  the  parish  know 
you  and  I  are  on  excellent  terms  anyhow. 
I  should  be  glad  to  have  a  talk  with  you 
about  the  schools  and  charities.  And,  of 
course,  if  Mr.  Rivers  should  soften  and  ex- 
press any  willingness  to  receive  your  minis- 
trations I  '11  not  fail  to  let  you  know." 

On  reaching  the  house,  Laurence  went 
straight  down  the  corridor,  pulled  aside  the 
tapestry  curtain,  and  entered  the  room  be- 
yond. As  yesterday,  it  was  fresher  in  atmos- 
phere than  the  rest  of  the  interior.  The 
furniture,  the  knick-knacks,  even  the  little 
frill  in  the  open  workbox  were  stationary, 
untouched,  precisely  in  the  same  position  as 
last  night.  Again  Laurence  examined  the 
room  carefully.  Very  certainly  there  was  no 
exit  from  it  save  the  door  or  the  bay-window, 
and  no  human  being  in  it  save  himself. 


I 


IX 

afternoon  Captain  Bellingham 
called  at  Stoke  Rivers.  He  was  a 
large,  fair,  fresh-coloured  man  of 
about  five-and-thirty  —  extremely 
well-groomed,  addicted  to  field-sports,  and  an 
arrant  gossip.  This  last  characteristic  was 
much  in  evidence  during  his  visit.  He 
gossiped  of  London,  of  New  York,  of  Sus- 
sex, displaying  a  vast  amount  of  knowledge 
of  other  people's  affairs. 

"Well,  my  dear  fellow,  it's  uncommonly 
pleasant  to  forgather  with  you  again.  Those 
presents  your  wife  sent  my  small  daughter 
were  princely.  Sibyl  will  write  to  her.  The 
child  has  a  regular  Yankee  eye  for  value  — 
and,  I  tell  you,  she  was  impressed.  My  wife 
was  awfully  disappointed  at  missing  you  yes- 
terday. She 's  frightfully  gone  on  Mrs. 
Rivers.  I  think  she  wants  to  have  a  look  at 
you  to  satisfy  herself  that  you  're  living  up  to 
your  high  privileges  in  that  quarter.  Come  over 
to-morrow,  can't  you,  and  dine  and  sleep  ? " 

Laurence  explained  that  his  evenings  were 
bespoken. 


The  Gateless  Barrier      77 

"Ah,  really  —  by  the  way,  how  is  the  old 
gentleman  ?  Making  headway  towards  — 
don't  you  know  ?  Rather  depressing  busi- 
ness for  you  waiting  on  like  this.  Pity  you 
can't  come  and  dine  and  sleep,  it  would  make 
a  little  break  for  you.  I  Ve  never  seen  him, 
you  know,  but  I  hear  he  is  rather  a  formid- 
able, old  person.  My  wife  intends  asking 
you  a  number  of  questions  about  him.  Of 
course,  you  must  know  there  are  a  whole  lot 
of  queer  stories  current." 

"  So  I  hear,"  Laurence  said. 

"  Oh,  it 's  not  for  you  to  hear ;  it 's  for 
you  to  tell,"  Jack  Bellingham  answered,  his 
eyes  twinkling.  "  Why,  my  dear  fellow,  your 
arrival  is  the  excitement  of  the  hour.  The 
whole  neighbourhood  is  sitting  on  the  edge 
of  its  respective  chairs  just  bursting  for  in- 
formation about  Stoke  Rivers.  You  wait  a 
little.  I  warn  you,  you  're  going  to  be  handed 
round  like  a  plate  of  cake  at  an  old  maid's 
tea-party  ;  and  my  wife,  in  right  of  her  rela- 
tionship to  Mrs.  Rivers,  means  to  have  the 
first  slice.  She  means  to  walk  in,  collar  you, 
and  then  skilfully  and  economically  retail  you 
to  her  whole  local  acquaintance.  To  tell  the 


78       The  Gateless  Barrier 

truth,  I  Ve  been  rather  worried  about  Louise 
lately.  She  has  an  idea — I  Ve  noticed  noth- 
ing to  justify  it  myself —  that  she  has  rather 
missed  fire  down  here.  She 's  taken  that 
awfully  to  heart,  you  know.  And  I  think 
she  looks  to  you  to  give  her  her  opportunity. 
She  thinks  if  she  gets  possession  of  you  and 
all  these  queer  stories,  she  '11  make  the  run- 
ning—  all  the  other  women  will  be  nowhere, 
you  know." 

Laurence  laughed.  He  felt  slightly  em- 
barrassed. 

"  But  what  the  dickens  is  it  all  about  ? " 
he  said. 

"  That 's  for  you  to  tell  us,"  Captain  Bel- 
lingham  repeated.  "  Perhaps  you  '11  be  rather 
glad  of  an  audience  in  a  day  or  two.  Any- 
how, come  over  and  see  my  wife  as  soon  as 
you  can.  She  's  great  on  spook-hunting,  psy- 
chical research,  all  that  sort  of  thing.  So  give 
her  the  first  chance.  Let  her  have  a  post- 
card in  the  morning.  She  '11  be  broken- 
hearted if  she  misses  you  again." 

Laurence  partook  of  another  solitary  din- 
ner, admirably  cooked  and  served,  in  com- 
pany with  the  dancing,  Etruscan  figures,  and 


'The  Gateless  Barrier      79 

the  musky-scented  orchids.  Again,  when  the 
meal  was  finished,  he  went  upstairs  through 
the  steady  light  and  close,  dry  atmosphere  to 
that  stately  and  sombre  sickroom.  The  last 
twenty-four  hours  had  been  very  full  of  dis- 
quieting episodes  and  suggestions. 

"  I  am  inclined  to  reverse  the  order  of  pro- 
ceedings to-night,"  he  said  to  himself,  "  and 
cross-question  my  uncle,  instead  of  letting 
him  cross-question  me.  After  all,  that'll  fit 
in  to  his  scheme  of  observation  well  enough. 
My  questions,  no  doubt,  will  be  indicative 
of  the  depths  of  my  native  ignorance  and  the 
poverty  of  my  powers.  They'll  enable  him 
to  draw  conclusions.  Conclusions  !  "  he  added, 
smiling — "a  sufficiently  fatuous  occupation, 
when  one  thinks  of  the  limited  amount  of 
evidence  obtainable  and  the  breadth  of  the 
inquiry  ?  " 

On  the  stairhead  his  uncle's  valet,  a  thin, 
wiry  man,  long-armed,  grey  of  hair  and  of 
skin,  met  him,  and  preceded  him  silently 
along  the  corridor.  Laurence's  relations  with 
servants,  and  other  persons  in  an  inferior 
position  to  his  own,  were  usually  of  a  kindly 
and  cordial  sort.  Such  persons  told  him  of 


8o       The  Gateless  Barrier 

their  affairs ;  they  admired  and  trusted  him. 
But  the  servants  in  this  house,  though  caring 
for  his  comfort  with  scrupulous  forethought 
and  punctuality,  remained,  so  far,  impossible 
of  approach.  They  seemed  to  him  like  so 
many  machines,  incapable  of  hopes  or  fears, 
affections,  even  of  sins,  inhuman  in  their 
rigidity  and  silence.  Now  the  valet  an- 
nounced him,  and  stood  aside  to  let  him 
pass,  with  a  perfection  of  drill  and  an  ab- 
sence of  individuality  so  complete,  that  it 
was  to  Laurence  quite  actively  unpleasant. 
Immediately  after,  he  met  the  hungry  glance 
of  those  coldly  brilliant  eyes,  looking  out  of 
the  face  fixed  in  outline,  transparent,  as  the 
crystal  skull  lying  on  the  table  close  by. 
And  this  house,  so  full  of  beings  but  half 
alive,  of  paralysed  activities,  defective  or  one- 
sided development,  seemed  to  the  young 
man,  for  the  moment,  terrible.  The  country 
churchyard,  in  which  the  wind  sang,  and  the 
sunshine  played  among  the  graves  with  flit- 
ting, beckoning  shadows,  was  gay  by  com- 
parison. No  wonder  the  place  had  an  evil 
reputation,  and  that  people  invented  weird 
stories  about  it. 


The  Gateless  Barrier       81 

A  sensation  of  loneliness,  such  as  he  had 
not  known  since  early  childhood,  came  over 
Laurence.  Almost  involuntarily  he  made  an 
effort  towards  closer,  more  sympathetic,  in- 
tercourse with  his  host. 

"  How  are  you  this  evening,  sir  ? "  he 
asked.  "  Better,  I  hope.  It  has  been  a 
wonderfully  charming  day." 

"  I  am  glad  to  learn  you  have  found  it  so. 
Weather  has  always  appeared  to  me  an  acci- 
dent, unworthy,  save  in  its  scientific  aspects, 
of  attention.  Yet  I  understand  that  it 
exercises  strong  influence  on  certain  tempera- 
ments —  emotional  temperaments,  I  appre- 
hend, undisciplined  by  reason.  That  the 
weather  to-day  has  affected  you  agreeably  is 
matter  for  congratulation,  since  it  will  have 
helped  to  mitigate  the  tedium  of  a  small 
portion  of  this  period  of  waiting." 

"  Oh  !  there 's  not  much  tedium,"  Laurence 
answered.  He  looked  across  at  the  elder 
man  smiling  very  pleasantly. —  "  I  'm  begin- 
ning to  find  things  here  a  little  too  dramatic, 
if  anything.  You  were  good  enough  to  tell 
me  that  you  found  me  interesting  last  night, 
sir.  I  only  wish  I  could  be  half  as  interesting 


82       The  Gateless  Barrier 

to  you,  as  you,  and  your  house,  and  the  whole 
state  of  affairs  here  is  to  me." 

"  You  find  it  distinctly  interesting  ?  "  Mr. 
Rivers  inquired,  but  whether  in  approval  or 
disapproval  Laurence  could  not  determine. 

"  Unquestionably,"  he  answered.  "  The 
house  is  cram  full  of  treasures.  And  there 
are  unexpected  influences  in  it,  which  get 
hold  of  one's  imagination.  It  stands  alone 
in  my  experience,  unlike  any  place  I  have 
ever  known." 

The  elder  man  sunk  further  back  against 
the  pillows,  and,  with  one  long,  thin  hand, 
drew  the  violet,  fur-lined  dressing-gown 
closer  across  his  knees  as  though  cold. 

fc  Indeed.  Have  I  divorced  myself  and 
my  surroundings  so  completely  from  the 
ordinary  habits  of  my  contemporaries  ?  " 

"  You  Ve  been  strong  enough  to  follow 
your  own  tastes  and  lead  your  own  life,  and 
that  has  produced  something  unique,  some- 
thing as  finished  as  it  is  apart.  Of  course,  this 
provokes  a  lot  of  criticism.  Other  people,  I 
observe,  recognise  that  it  is  unique  too." 

"  Other  people  ?  "  Mr.  Rivers  said  loftily. 
<c  I  have  never  entertained." 


'The  Gateless  Barrier       83 

<f  Exactly,"  Laurence  answered.  "  That  *s 
where  part  of  the  uniqueness  comes  in.  We 
mostly  herd  together  like  sheep  in  a  pen,  and 
can't  be  easy  unless  we're  rubbing  sides."  — 
He  paused  a  moment.  "  Your  refusal  to 
rub  sides  causes  great  searchings  of  heart,  I 
assure  you.  The  poor,  little  parson  here, 
for  instance,  is  tormented  by  the  idea  that  it 
is  his  duty  to  the  Almighty,  and  to  the 
Church  of  England,  and  to  his  own  abnor- 
mally developed  conscience,  to  raid  you  and 
do  a  little  spiritual  gardening  in  the  neglected 
flower-beds  of  your  soul." 

"  My   soul    is  my   own,"   Mr.   Rivers  ob- 
served.      "That    is,    if    the    term    soul    is, 
strictly     speaking,     admissible.         Conscious  | 
consciousness   is   all  that  I    can   predicate  of 
my  other  than  physical  existence." 

"  The  little  parson's  point  of  view  is  quite 
different.  He  is  by  no  means  backward  in 
predication.  He  is  quite  sure  you  have  a 
soul ;  but  whether  it  is  your  own,  or  whether 
it  does  n't  belong  to  him  as  curate-in-charge 
of  Stoke  Rivers,  he  is  not  at  all  sure.  He 
has  strong  leanings  to  the  latter  belief,  I 
fancy." 


84       'The  Gateless  Barrier 

"  These  are  puerilities." 

"  The  average  man  is  puerile,"  Lau- 
rence asserted  cheerfully.  "  We  carted  away 
Woman  last  night,  sir,  you  remember,  in 
deference  to  your  slight  prejudice  against  her 
—  though  I  still  maintain  she  is  by  no  means 
foreign  to  our  inquiry.  But  I  really  can't 
consent  to  the  carting  away  of  puerility  too, 
or  you  will  never  get  hold  of  the  average 
man  at  all.  Forbid  his  affections  and  his 
ineptitudes  both,  and  you  don't  leave  the 
poor  wretch  a  leg  to  stand  on.  Meanwhile, 
the  little  parson  is  not  the  only  person  a  good 
deal  worked  up  by  the  unique  character  of 
your  habits  and  surroundings.  These  give 
rise,  indirectly,  to  surprising  legends." 

« Indeed !  " 

"  Yes,  indeed.  I  think  they  would  amuse 
you.  And  in  connection  with  all  this,  sir, 
there  are  one  or  two  questions  I  should  most 
uncommonly  like  to  ask  you." 

"You  may  do  so,"  Mr.  Rivers  said.  His 
nephew's  rapid  speech  and  breezy  manner 
made  him  slightly  breathless.  He  was  un- 
accustomed to  be  treated  in  this  light  and  airy 
fashion,  He  moved  uneasily  in  his  chair, 


The  Gateless  Barrier      85 

as  one  who  tries  to  avoid  a  draught.  Laurence 
observing  this,  repented  of  his  purpose. 

"  I  don't  tire  you,  sir,  do  I  ? "  he  asked 
kindly. 

"  Exhaustion  is  a  consequence  of  the  fail- 
ure of  the  will.  My  will  is  still  obedient  to 
my  mind,  and  my  body  to  my  will." 

Laurence  looked  at  him  with  a  certain 
admiration.  He  was  true  to  his  creed,  such 
as  it  was,  and  his  pride  had,  consequently, 
rather  a  superb  quality. 

"Well,  then,"  he  said,  "since  I  may  ask 
you  —  I  have  found  from  conversation  with 
several  of  our  neighbours  that  this  house, 
which  I  took  to  be  a  sort  of  Temple  of  Rea- 
son, is  regarded  with  a  good  deal  of  vulgar 
suspicion." 

Though  the  room  was  warm,  the  atmos- 
phere of  it  close  as  that  of  a  thundering  night 
in  the  tropics,  Laurence  instinctively  leaned 
forward,  spreading  out  his  hands  to  the  glow- 
ing wood-fire  on  the  hearth. 

"  I  am  not  superstitious,"  he  continued ; 
"  and  you  very  certainly,  I  take  it,  are  not 
so.  We  shall  agree  in  that.  Still,  I  confess, 
the  whole  subject  of  the  occult  and  super- 


86       The  Gateless  Barrier 

natural  is  rather  fascinating  to  me.  I  can't 
quite  keep  my  hands  off  it.  I  find  an  idea 
is  prevalent  that  there  are  manifestations  here, 
queer  things  are  seen,  you  know,  which  can- 
not be  put  down  to  natural  agency.  I  want 
to  know  if  you  —  " 

But  Mr.  Rivers  interrupted  him  with 
unaccustomed  vehemence  of  speech  and 
manner. 

"Stop!"  he  said,  "stop  if  you  please. 
This  subject  is  exceedingly  distasteful  to  me." 

"  Then  we  won't  pursue  it,"  Laurence 
answered  quickly.  Yet  he  wondered ;  his 
interest,  already  considerably  aroused,  being 
sensibly  increased  by  the  violence  displayed 
by  his  companion.  It  was  singular;  and  he 
paused  a  little,  thinking,  before  embarking 
in  further  conversation.  During  that  pause, 
Mr.  Rivers  leaned  sideways,  slowly  and  with 
difficulty  raised  the  crystal  skull  from  its 
place  on  the  table  beside  him.  He  held  it 
in  front  of  him  in  both  hands,  and  gazed,  as 
though  performing  some  religious  rite,  into 
the  cavities  of  the  empty  eye-sockets.  Then 
stiffly,  letting  his  hands  sink,  he  rested  it 
upon  his  knees. 


The  Gateless  Barrier      87 

"  Pardon  me,"  he  said,  looking  full  at 
Laurence,  while  a  shadow,  rather  than  a  flush, 
seemed  to  pass  over  his  attenuated  face.  "  I 
was  tempted  to  act  unworthily.  —  I  agreed  to 
answer  such  questions  as  you  might  put  to 
me.  But  perceiving  those  questions  tended 
to  revive  a  matter  which  has  caused  me  one 
of  the  few  humiliations  and  regrets  I  have 
suffered  during  my  life,  I  shrank.  I  was 
tempted  weakly  to  break  faith  with  you  and 
retract  my  promise." 

"  Pray,  sir,  don't  take  it  so  seriously," 
Laurence  entreated.  "  Of  course,  I  should 
never  have  approached  the  subject  had  I 
known  it  was  disagreeable  to  you.  It  was 
just  the  idle  curiosity  of  an  idle  man.  What 
on  earth  does  it  matter  ?  " 

"To  you  very  little,  presumably,  since  you 
are,  as  you  say,  idle  —  your  days,  that  is, 
filled  with  a  round  of  amusements  deadening 
—  as  I  fear  — •  to  the  intellectual  and  moral 
conscience.  But  with  me  the  case  is  otherwise. 
The  judgment  of  no  human  being  is  of 
moment  to  me.  But  my  judgment  of  myself^ 
is  of  infinite  moment." 

Mr.  Rivers  laid  one  transparent  hand  upon 


88       The  Gateless  Barrier 

the  dome  of  the  crystal  skull,  as  though  for 
support.  His  face  had  grown  hard  as  steel. 
"  It  is  therefore  incumbent  upon  me,  not 
in  satisfaction  of  your  curiosity,  my  dear 
Laurence,  but  in  satisfaction  of  my  own  sense 
of  rectitude,  that  I  should  accept  this  oppor- 
tunity of  stating  the  following  facts.  I 
inherited  this  property  —  as  you  will  shortly 
inherit  it  —  from  an  uncle,  a  man  very  much 
my  senior.  I  had  prosecuted  my  studies 
abroad,  in  the  learned  centres  of  Germany 
and  France,  from  an  early  age.  My  acquaint- 
ance with  my  uncle  was  slight.  I  knew  little 
of  his  private  life.  But  I  had  reason  to 
believe  him  a  person  of  an  undisciplined 
mind,  imbued  with  the  extravagant  socialistic 
views  current  during  the  French  Revolution, 
unbridled  alike  in  passions  of  love  and  of 
hate.  Questions  of  character  have  never  in- 
terested me;  I  therefore  made  no  further 
inquiry  regarding  my  predecessor's  private 
life.  My  own  tastes  and  habits  were  already 
fixed.  I  settled  myself  here  and  continued 
the  studies  in  experimental  physics,  philology, 
and  metaphysics,  in  which  I  had  already  en- 
gaged. I  also  added  to  the  collection  of 


The  Gateless  Barrier      89 

pictures  and  objects  of  art  that  I  found  in 
the  house.  My  life  has  been  blameless, 
as  most  men  count  blame.  I  can  assert,  with- 
out fear  of  contradiction,  that  my  moral  and 
intellectual  integrity  have  been  complete. 
Only  in  one  connection  have  I  been  guilty, 
have  I  failed  —  failed,  as  I  now  confess, 
miserably  and  grossly." 

Mr.  Rivers  paused  a  moment.  His  fin- 
gers twitched  as  they  rested  upon  the  crystal 
skull. 

"  Miserably  and  grossly,"  he  repeated. 
cc  The  vulgar  gossip  which  you  have  heard 
rests  upon  a  basis  of  truth.  I  cannot  deny 
the  existence  of  supernatural  manifestations, 
so  called,  in  one  quarter  of  this  house. 
They  are  undeniable.  I  have  witnessed  them 
myself." 

Laurence  felt  a  queer  shiver  of  excitement 
run  through  him.  He  sat  very  still.  —  "Then 
I  was  n't  asleep  after  all,"  he  said  to  himself, 
"in  that  room  last  night." 

"  The  said  manifestations  were  not  only  dis- 
turbing and  distasteful  to  me ;  but  I  per- 
ceived that  their  existence  threatened  the 
validity  of  some  of  my  most  carefully  rea- 


90       The  Gateless  Barrier 

soned  hypotheses,  of  some  of  my  most 
ardently  cherished  beliefs.  Of  vulgar  physi- 
cal fear,  I  need  hardly  tell  you,  I  was  in- 
capable ;  but  I  trembled  before  a  dislocation 
of  my  thought.  It  followed  that  I  became 
guilty  of  an  act  of  flagrant  mental  cowardice. 
I  refused  to  submit  those  manifestations  to 
scientific  investigation.  I  never  mentioned 
them  to  my  correspondents.  I  took  elabo- 
rate precautions  against  ever  witnessing  them 
again  myself.  I  made  a  determined  effort  to 
erase  the  memory  of  them  from  my  mind. 
I  almost  succeeded  in  forgetting  that  I  ever 
had  witnessed  them.  Thus  I  tricked  my  own 
intelligence.  I  lied  to  my  own  experience. 
I  committed  a  crime  against  my  own  reason 
—  a  crime  which  I  can  never  hope  to  expiate." 

Moved  by  the  passion  of  the  elder  man's 
self-denunciation,  Laurence  had  risen,  and 
stood  close  to  him. 

"  Ah  !  surely  you  take  it  too  hard  —  far 
too  hard,  sir,"  he  said. 

But  Mr.  Rivers,  looking  up  at  him,  an- 
swered sternly  — 

"  A  sin  is  heinous,  not  in  itself,  but  in 
relation  to  the  level  of  virtue  habitually  main- 


The  Gateless  Barrier       91 

tained  by  whoso  commits  it.  And  so,  even 
were  I  not  disabled,  were  I  still  capable  of 
carrying  out  these  investigations,  the  unspar- 
ing prosecution  of  which  could  alone  give 
proof  of  the  sincerity  of  my  repentance,  that 
could  not  really  wipe  out  the  iniquity  of  the 
past.  In  morals  I  cannot  logically  admit  the 
possibility  of  cancelling  a  wrong  once  done. 
In  the  realm  of  physics  we  know  that  vibra- 
tions, once  generated,  ring  out  everlastingly/^- 
through  space.  To  send  forth  a  contrary  set 
of  vibrations  is  not  to  limit,  or  cause  the  first 
generated  to  cease.  Their  circles  may  inter- 
sect, yet  they  are  practically  independent,  and 
cannot  neutralise  one  another.  In  the  realm 
of  morals  it  is  the  same.  The  act  once  com- 
mitted passes  into  the  region  of  persistent 
and  indubitable  fact.  Of  sins,  both  passive 
and  active,  this  is  equally  true.  And  conse- 
quently I  am  doomed  —  so  long  as  I  retain 
conscious  individuality  —  to  remain  hope- 
lessly lowered  in  my  self-esteem." 

The  sick  man  spoke  with  a  fierceness  of 
conviction,  his  voice  usually  low  and  even 
swelling  into  full  sonorous  tones ;  his  attenu- 
ated frame  vibrant  with  energy  ;  his  face  il- 


92.       The  Gateless  Barrier 

luminated,  as  though  a  lamp  burned  behind 
that  thin  investiture  of  flesh  and  bone.  Lau- 
rence saw  in  him,  for  the  moment,  a  great 

*  '  O 

orator,  more  probably  a  great  preacher, 
wasted.  And  the  thought  of  that  waste  of 
force,  waste  of  power,  stung  him  out  of  in- 
dolence, out  of  mere  easy  good  nature.  He, 
at  least,  would  shilly-shally  no  more  with 
life,  but  play  the  game  —  whatever  the  game 
presenting  itself — whole-heartedly.  And  again 
that  queer  shiver  of  excitement  ran  through 
him;  while  again  he  -reminded  himself  he  had 
now  reliable  testimony  that  he  had  met  with 
something  far  stranger,  more  incalculable  and 
mysterious,  than  any  vision  of  a  dream,  in 
that  clear-coloured  room  downstairs  last  night. 
He  stood  silent,  thinking  intently,  feeling 
keenly,  his  whole  nature  alert.  But  a  small 
rustling  sound,  as  of  a  chill  wind  among  dry 
leaves  in  a  winter  hedge,  recalled  him  to  his 
immediate  surroundings.  Mr.  Rivers  had 
sunk  back  against  the  silken  cushions,  which 
rustled  under  his  weight.  The  light  had  died 
out  of  his  face,  his  hands  clutched  tremblingly 
at  the  crystal  memento  mori  resting  on  his 
knees.  For  the  first  time  Laurence  realised 


The  Gateless  Barrier 


93 


how  very  near  —  but  for  the  indomitable 
strength  of  will  which  supported  him  —  he 
was  to  death.  Laurence  bent  over  him. 

"  This  is  heavy,  sir,"  he  said,  touching  the 
crystal  skull.  "May  I  put  it  back  on  the 
table?" 

Mr.  Rivers  bowed  his  head  in  assent. 

'f  We  have  talked  too  much.  It  would  be 
wise,  I  think,  for  me  to  leave  you." 

"  It  would  be  so." 

"  May  I  call  your  man  before  I  go  —  I 
hardly  like  to  leave  you  alone." 

"Thank  you;  he  will  come  at  the  accus- 
tomed hour.  I  do  not  deviate  from  habits 
once  formed  except  under  stress  of  necessity." 

Laurence  was  pushed  by  the  desire  to  say 
something  gentle,  something  expressive  of 
the  honour  in  which  he  held  his  host's  rec- 
titude and  sincerity.  But  Mr.  Rivers  lay 
back  motionless,  his  eyes  closed.  It  was 
difficult  to  find  just  the  words  he  wished. 
He  turned  away  towards  the  door,  when  the 
elder  man's  voice  recalled  him. 

"Laurence,"  he  said,  "Laurence  —  one 
word  before  we  part.  If  you  should  see  fit 
to  undertake  those  investigations  of  which 


94       The  Gateless  Barrier 

we  have  spoken,  and  in  face  of  which  I 
showed  myself  unfaithful  and  a  craven  — 
remember  I  press  nothing  upon  you,  I  leave 
you  free  to  undertake  them  or  not  as  you 
please —  I  have  one  request  to  make  of 
you." 

"  Yes,  sir,"  he  answered. 

"It  is  this  —  that  you  will  under  no  cir- 
cumstances communicate  the  result  of  those 
investigations  to  any  person  save  myself,  and 
only  to  me  should  I  definitely  ask  you  to  do 
so.  Will  you  give  me  your  word  ?  " 

"  I  give  you  my  word,  sir." 

And  with  the  feeling  that  he  had  bound 
himself  to  an  engagement  of  unlooked-for 
solemnity,  the  young  man  went  out  into  the 
steady  brightness  of  the  corridor,  while  — 
as  last  night  —  the  odour  of  the  orchids  met 
him,  enfolding  him  in  their  thick,  musky 
sweetness,  half-way  down  the  dark,  shining, 
oaken-  stairs. 


X 

AS  he  pulled  the  edge  of  the  heavy, 
leather-lined    curtain    towards    him, 
Laurence  laughed  a  little,  in  part  at 
his  own  eagerness,  in  part  defiant  of 
scruples.     Waking    in    the    small  hours,  as   a 
baby-child,  he  had  often  imagined  that,  could  he 
climb  the  high  rails  of  his  cot  and  steal  back  un- 
perceived  to  the  day-nursery,  he  would  find  all 
his  toys  alive  and  stirring,  at  play  on  their  own 
account.     And  this  conception  of  the  reversal 
of  the  natural  order  of  things,  while  it  fright- 
ened him,  yet  enchanted  his  fancy.     Something 
of  that  childish  alarm  and  enchantment  arose 
in  him  now.     He  felt  about  to  bid  farewell  to 
common-sense,  possibly  —  to  usual  established 
habits  of  thought,  assuredly.     He  was  about  to 
commit  himself  to  an  untried  element ;  offering 
himself  as  sport  to  seas  unsounded  as  yet,  to 
unknown  forces  which  might  prove  malign  and 
merciless.     While  the  promise,  by  which  he  had 
so  lately  bound  himself,  introduced  into  the  com- 
ing experience  an  element  of  secrecy  that  made 
—  as  enforced  secrecy  so  often  does  make  —  for 
a  rather  dangerous  degree  of  personal  liberty. 


96       'The  Gateless  Barrier 

So  he  turned  the  door-handle  not  without 
expectation.  And  this  time  expectation  suffered 
no  disappointment.  In  front  of  the  tall,  satin- 
wood  escritoire,  her  back  towards  him,  her 
delicate  hands  wandering  anxiously  over  the 
painted  and  polished  surface,  he  beheld  once 
more  the  slender,  rose-clad  figure. 

Laurence  drew  in  his  breath  with  a  sigh  of 
satisfaction.  He  crossed  the  room  boldly  to- 
night and  stood  beside  her;  and  her  pale, 
ethereal  loveliness  entranced  him  as  he  spoke. 

"  Listen  to  me,"  he  said.    "  We  are  strangers 

*  o 

to  one  another  —  so  strangely  strangers  that  I 
half  distrust  the  evidence  of  my  senses,  as, 
only  too  conceivably,  you  distrust  the  evidence 
of  yours.  I  don't  pretend  to  understand  what 
distance  of  time,  or  space,  or  conditions,  sepa- 
rates us.  I  only  know  that  I  see  you,  and 
that  you  are  unhappy,  and  that  you  search  for 
something  you  are  unable  to  find.  —  Look 
here,  look  here  —  listen  to  me  and  try  to  lay 
hold  of  this  idea  —  that  I  am  a  friend,  not  an 
enemy ;  that  I  come  to  help,  not  to  hinder 
you.  Try  to  enter  into  some  sort  of  relation 
with  me.  Try  to  cross  the  gulf  which  seems 
to  lie  between  us.  Try  to  believe  that  you 


The  Gate/ess  Barrier      97 

have  found  some  one  who  will  keep  faith  with 
you,  and  do  his  best  to  serve  you  ;  and  be- 
lieving that,  put  sorrow  out  of  your  face  —  " 

He  stopped  suddenly.  When  he  began 
speaking  he  might  have  been  addressing  a 
sleep-walker  or  a  person  in  a  trance.  There 
was  no  speculation  in  her  sweet  eyes.  They 
were  wild  with  a  wondering  distress,  looking 
on  him  as  though  not  seeing  him.  But  as  he 
continued  to  plead  with  her  —  speaking  slowly, 
pausing  at  the  close  of  each  sentence  in  the 
hope  that  the  sense  of  his  words  might  so 
reach  and  arrest  her  —  a  gradual  change  came 
over  her  aspect,  as  of  one  awakening  from  pro- 
longed and  troubled  slumber.  There  was  a 
dawning  of  intelligence  in  her  expression,  as  in 
that  of  a  little  child  first  struggling  to  appre- 
hend and  measure,  not  by  means  of  its  senses 
merely,  but  in  obedience  to  the  conscious 
effort  of  its  mind.  The  drooping  corners  of 
the  mouth  straightened,  turned  upward,  the 
lips  breaking  into  a  timid,  questioning  smile. 
She  stretched  herself  a  little,  clenched  her  fists 
gently,  rubbed  her  eyes  with  them  in  innocent, 
baby  fashion,  stretched  again,  and  then  looked 
full  at  Laurence  —  a  woman  shy,  diffident,  but 

7 


98      The  Gateless  Barrier 

in  possession  of  her  faculties,  expectant,  and 
alive. 

"  Yes  —  yes  —  there,  that 's  right.  Now 
you  look  as  you  used  to,  look  as  you  should," 
he  exclaimed,  his  voice  low,  shaken  with  very 
vital  excitement.  He  felt  as  when — once  or 
twice  —  bringing  a  racing  yacht  in  to  the  finish, 
a  fair  spread  of  blue  water  between  her  stern 
and  her  competitor's  bows,  he  had  felt  her 
pace  quicken  while  the  tiller  throbbed  and 
danced  under  his  hand.  A  buoyancy  of  heart, 
a  delicious  conviction  of  successful  attainment 
was  upon  him.  Sportsman  and  poet  alike 
rejoiced  in  Laurence  just  then,  and  the  spiritual 
side  of  his  nature  was  touched  as  well.  He 
seemed  to  have  witnessed  a  glad  resurrection, 
enforcing  belief  in  the  immortality  of  the 
soul,  as  he  gazed  on  this  lovely  face  in  which 
reason,  hope,  even  gaiety,  were  so  visibly  born 
anew. 

"  Never  mind  about  that  which  you  have 
lost,"  he  said.  "  Let  it  be  for  the  present. 
We  will  arrive  at  it  in  time  sure  enough  — 
leave  all  that  to  me.  You  want  these  drawers 
opened,  their  locks  picked  ?  —  Well,  that  shall 
be  done  all  in  good  time.  But  whatever  treas- 


The  Gateless  Barrier 


99 


ures  we  find  there  will  be  but  a  trifle,  it  strikes 
me,  compared  with  that  which  we  have  already 
found  to-night.  For  I  have  found  you  — 
found  you  once  more  —  and  you,  thank  God, 
have  found  yourself." 

Again  his  companion  stretched,  and  passed 
her  hands  across  her  eyes,  while  her  lips  parted 
in  a  soundless  sigh.  Silence  held  her  yet,  but 
that  appeared  to  make  singularly  little  differ- 
ence in  their  intercourse.  For  he  perceived 
that  she  understood,  that  she  sympathised, 
that  she  too  was  penetrated  with  quick,  inti- 
mate joy,  and  an  exquisite  and  innocent  good- 
fellowship,  as  plainly  as  though  a  very  torrent 
of  eloquent  explanation  and  asseveration  had 
issued  from  her  mouth.  Indeed,  this  word- 
lessness had  for  him  an  extraordinary  charm. 
Far  from  a  power  being  lacking,  it  was  to  him 
as  though  a  new  power  had  been  granted,  and 
that  the  most  subtle  and  convincing  to  the 
heart. 

Laurence  stood  tall,  upright,  in  the  full 
pride  of  his  young  manhood,  of  his  virile 
energy  and  strength,  before  this  slender  fairy- 
lady,  with  her  softly  gleaming  jewels,  her 
dainty  frills  and  laces,  her  clinging  rose-red, 


ioo    The  Gateless  Barrier 

old-world,  silken  gown,  and  held  out  his 
hands  to  her. 

"  Come,"  he  said,  "  the  night  is  fair  and 
windless  and  full  of  stars.  Shall  we  go  out 
into  it  and  read  the  great  poem  of  the  sky 
and  the  woodland  while  all  men  sleep,  you 
and  I  —  good  comrades,  old  friends,  though 
as  most  mortals  count  meeting,  we  have  met 
each  other,  it  would  seem,  but  twice  ?  —  You 
have  known  sad  things.  Well,  forget  them. 
You  have  searched  vainly  for  lost  things. 
Well,  forget  them  too.  The  finest  house  at 
best  remains  somewhat  of  a  prison,  and  this 
room  is  pervaded  by  melancholy  memories. 
Leave  it.  Let  us  give  the  past,  give  conven- 
tion, give  reason  even,  the  slip  for  once  — 
and  go." 

For  a  minute  or  more  she  hesitated,  look- 
ing at  Laurence  profoundly,  as  though  trying 
to  read  his  inmost  thought.  Then  she  laid 
her  hand  in  his.  It  had  neither  weight  nor 
substance,  but  touched  his  palm  as  a  light 
summer  wind  might  have  touched  his  cheek, 
or  a  butterfly's  wings  might  have  fluttered, 
with  a  just  perceptible  pulsation,  within  the 
hollow  of  his  hands. 


The  Gateless  Barrier'    101 

And  so  Laurence  threw  open  the  high 
French  window,  and  together  they  passed  out 
onto  the  grey,  semicircular  flight  of  steps. 
Immediately  below  lay  the  Italian  garden  — 
its  formal  flower-borders,  its  faintly  dripping 
fountains,  its  black,  spire-like  cypresses,  white 
balustrades  and  statues,  vague,  mysterious,  in 
the  starlight.  The  great  lawns  stretched  away 
beyond,  crossed  by  the  broad  gravel  walk, 
which  showed  pale  for  some  fifty  yards,  and 
then  was  lost  in  the  dusky  shadow  of  the 
grove  of  lime-trees.  In  the  north  was  a  wide, 
white  light  travelling  —  since  the  March 
nights  now  grew  short  —  along  the  horizon, 
through  the  quiet  hours,  from  the  last  death- 
flush  of  sunset  to  the  first  birth-flush  of  the 
dawn. 

Lawrence  watched  his  companion  anxiously 
as  her  little  feet  in  their  diamond-powdered 
slippers  crossed  the  window-sill.  With  that 
impalpable  hand  in  his,  that  scarcely  percepti- 
ble flutter  —  as  of  a  captive  butterfly  —  against 
his  fingers,  he  could  not  but  entertain  fears 
that  the  strong  open  air  might  work  some 
change  in  her  ;  that  she  might  be  drawn  up 
and  absorbed  by  the  sharp,  glittering  starlight ; 


102     The  Gateless  Barrier 

that  she  might  be  resolved  into  nothingness 
by  the  keen  breath  of  the  night,  or  that  some 
sturdy  sea-breeze  might  arise  and  blow  her 
quite  away.  But  such  as  she  was  —  woman, 
or  sprite,  or  visitant  from  beyond  the  gates  of 
the  grave  —  she  remained  by  his  side.  And 
together  they  passed  down  the  garden  alleys, 
and  lingered  by  the  dripping  fountains  watch- 
ing the  sleepless  fish  that  moved  —  silent  as 
the  dainty  lady  herself —  through  the  water 
of  the  lichen-encrusted,  stone  basins.  They 
stood  together  beneath  the  dark  cypresses 
which,  even  on  winter  nights,  smell  dry  and 
warm  of  the  south,  and  talk  in  husky,  whis- 
pering accents  of  classic  lands  —  of  marble 
columns  mellow  with  age,  and  saffron-plastered 
walls,  over  which  great  vines  hang,  and  in  the 
hot  cracks  of  which  scorpions  breed,  and  light- 
footed  lizards  glance  and  scamper.  And,  still 
together,  they  went  on  —  the  unspoken  sym- 
pathy between  them  growing,  deepening  — 
down  the  second  flight  of  steps  and  along 
the  broad,  gravelled  way.  Here,  in  the  open 
space,  the  whole  panorama  of  the  heavens  was 
disclosed ;  and  then,  almost  in  spite  of  him- 
self, Laurence  broke  into  utterance.  He 


The  Gateless  Barrier     103 

talked,  as  never,  even  in  his  most  brilliant 
moments,  he  had  talked  before.  The  scene 
was  so  majestic,  and  moreover  he  had  so  per- 
fect a  listener,  every  movement  of  whose  grace- 
ful body,  every  glance  of  whose  profound  and 
gentle  eyes  expressed  comprehension,  accord 
—  as  when  the  violin  strings  answer,  in  ex- 
quisite melody,  to  the  skilfully  handled  bow. 
And  so  forgetting  himself,  ceasing  to  exer- 
cise that  reticence — half-humorous,  half-rev- 
erent—  with  which,  as  with  a  cloak,  modern, 
civilised  man  strives  to  hide  the  noblest  and 
purest  of  his  thought,  Laurence  laid  bare  his 
heart  and  soul  to  his  sweet  companion.  He 
told  her  tender,  trivial  incidents  of  his  youth 
and  childhood  —  in  themselves  of  little  mo- 
ment, yet  such  as  leave  an  indelible  mark  on 
the  imagination  and  character.  He  told  her 
of  the  splendid  hopes  of  his  opening  manhood, 
when,  with  the  magnificent  self-confidence  of 
inexperience,  the  whole  world  seemed  his  to 
conquer  if  he  pleased.  He  told  her  of  those 
plays  and  poems,  so  full  of  promise  that,  could 
he  have  realised  the  fulness  of  his  own  con- 
ceptions, they  must  have  rendered  his  name 
famous  through  all  the  coming  years.  He  told 


104     The  Gateless  Barrier 

her,  too,  of  those  brief,  fugitive  moments  of 
spiritual  illumination,  when  he  had  felt  himself 
draw  very  near  to  the  ultimate  meaning  and 
purpose  of  things ;  when  he  had  apprehended 
rGod  as  the  Eternal  Lover,  the  soul  of  man  as 
v  the  Eternal  Bride,  and  how,  in  the  light  of  that 
blessed  apprehension,  all  confusion  had  ceased, 
all  life,  all  death,  becoming  at  once  very  simple 
and  very  holy,  guiltless  alike  of  suffering  and 
of  shame. 

Then  —  as  they  wandered  yet  further  into 
the  thin  shadow  of  the  still  leafless  lime-trees, 
and,  sitting  for  a  while  upon  the  stone  bench 
beside  the  broad,  dim  walk,  looked  forth  under 
the  down-sweeping  branches,  to  the  vast  ex- 
panse of  the  distant  country  —  he  descended 
from  discourse  of  these  high  matters.  He  told 
her  of  the  joys  of  manly  sports  and  pastimes, 
and  of  the  still  greater  joys  of  travel  and  ad- 
venture, in  far  countries,  among  alien  peoples, 
by  land  and  sea. 

Thus  did  the  hours  pass  in  glad  and  fear- 
less communion  of  heart  with  heart,  and  soul 
with  soul,  while  upon  the  horizon  the  white 
light  walked  slowly,  surely  eastward.  And 
then,  at  last,  it  seemed  as  though  some  disturb- 


The  Gateless  Barrier     105 

ing  thought  invaded  his  fairy-lady's  mind,  caus- 
ing her  attention  to  waver,  her  gentle  gaiety  to 
wane.  The  purport  of  that  thought  Laurence 
failed  to  read,  and  this  troubled  him  with  a 
sensation  of  helplessness,  as  though  a  gulf  was 
once  again  opening  between  his  state  of  being 
and  hers,  which  he  was  powerless  to  cross.  She 
rose  from  her  place  beside  him  and  moved 
restlessly  to  and  fro.  And  when  he  pleaded 
with  and  questioned  her,  she  moved  yet  further 
from  him,  and  stood  with  one  hand  raised  as 
imploring  silence.  She  appeared  to  listen  for 
some  call,  some  summons,  quite  other  than 
welcome,  for  he  could  see  the  corners  of  her 
dear  mouth  droop  once  more,  while  her  eyes 
grew  shy  and  wild.  Unwillingly  as  though 
constrained  by  some  force  she  did  not  love  yet 
must  obey,  she  passed  out  on  to  the  clear, 
smooth  spaces  of  the  great  lawns.  The  grass 
blades  were  touched  with  a  whiteness  of  frost ; 
but  Laurence  observed  that  neither  her  foot- 
steps, nor  the  little  frills  bordering  her  gown 
as  they  swept  it,  left  any  track  upon  the 
spangled  turf. 

Sheep  bells  sounded  plaintively  from  some 
far-off  fold.      Rabbits  slipped  out  timorously 


io6     The  Gateless  Barrier 

from  the  edge  of  the  wood  to  take  their  morn- 
ing feed,  and,  perceiving  no  threatening  pres- 
ence, waxed  bold,  skipping  and  gambolling 
upon  the  frosty  grass.  Then  with  a  sullen 
roar,  breaking  up  the  gracious  quiet  of  nature 
with  the  hoarse  voice  of  man's  business,  man's 
necessity  of  labour,  and  unappeasable  unrest, 
a  train  thundered  along  the  valley,  leaving  a 
long  trail  of  pale  smoke  hanging  among  the 
grey-brown  masses  of  the  indistinguishable 
trees. 

The  roar  died  out  as  it  had  come,  sullen 
and  imperative  to  the  last.  There  followed  a 
pause  as  though  for  a  minute  or  two  all  nature, 
all  living  creatures,  held  their  breath.  And 
then  from  the  near  stables,  and  from  distant 
homestead  and  farm,  cocks  challenged  one 
another — some  in  tones  high  and  shrill,  some 
faint  and  low  —  heralding  the  sunrise  and  tell- 
ing all  the  world  that  day  was  once  more  born. 

Immediately,  to  his  consternation,  Laurence 
beheld  his  lovely  companion  and  friend  turn 
away  ;  and,  without  farewell,  without  smallest 
apparent  recollection  of  his  presence,  flit — as 
some  bird,  or  rather  as  some  rose-red  rose-leaf 
driven  by  a  storm  wind  —  across  the  lawns, 


The  Gateless  Barrier     107 

past  the  dripping  fountains  and  sighing 
cypresses  of  the  Italian  garden,  back,  back,  up 
the  grey  steps  and  in  at  the  open  window  of 
the  silent  house. 

He  followed  her  rapidly.  The  sun-rays 
shot  up  into  the  eastern  sky  as  he  crossed  the 
window-sill.  Within,  the  glory  of  the  sunrise 
struggled  with  the  unyielding  glare  of  the 
electric  light.  Every  object,  every  corner  and 
recess,  was  clearly  seen.  But  the  room  was 
vacant.  Once  again  his  fairy-lady  had  van- 
ished leaving  no  trace,  her  sweet  presence  was 
removed  and  Laurence  found  himself  alone. 


XI 

SOMETHING  drummed  and  drum- 
med ;  and,  in  obedience  to  that  sound, 
it  appeared  to  Laurence  that  he  returned 
—  whence  he  knew  not — across  the 
most  prodigious  spaces  ever  traversed  by  the 
spirit  of  man.  Then  the  matter  explained 
itself.  He  was  on  board  ship  once  again, 
awakened  to  the  familiar  pounding  of  the 
engines  and  drum  of  the  screw.  Opening  his 
eyes,  they  would  rest  on  the  white  iron  and 
wooden  walls  of  his  state-room,  and  the  alert 
figure  of  his  bedroom  steward,  announcing  — 
"Fair  morning,  sir;  bath  ready,  sir."  And 
this  impression  was  so  distinct  that  it  took  him 
some  seconds  to  focus  his  actual  whereabouts 
—  the  stately  and  serious  bed-chamber  at 
Stoke  Rivers,  and  the  portly  person  of 
Watkins,  the  under-butler,  standing  at  the 
bedside,  a  silver  tea-tray  in  his  large,  soft 
hands. 

"  I  beg  your  pardon,  sir,  but  I  have  been  up 
twice  already  and  received  no  answer,"  he  said, 
his  manner  correct  and  respectful  as  ever,  but 
his  face  wearing,  for  once,  an  expression  of 


The  Gateless  Barrier     109 

quite  human  solicitude  —  or  was  it  curiosity  ? 
"  I  spoke  to  Mr.  Renshaw  and  Mr.  Lowndes, 
and  they  considered  it  advisable  that  I  should 
enter,  sir.  Mr.  Renshaw  and  Mr.  Lowndes 
felt,  with  me,  not  quite  comfortable,  sir,  know- 
ing your  habit  of  early  rising." 

Watkins  set  down  the  tray  carefully,  turning 
out  the  corners  of  the  fine  napkin  which  cov- 
ered it. 

"  Your  tea,  your  letters,  sir,"  he  added,  and 
then  paused. 

Laurence  tried  to  rouse  himself.  Shipboard 
and  the  pounding  engines  were  a  delusion 
clearly.  But  was  the  night  of  sweet  converse, 
and  the  flitting  away  of  a  rose-clad,  slender 
figure  at  the  first  flush  of  dawn,  a  delusion 
likewise  ? 

"  Oh  yes,  thanks,  Watkins,  I  am  all  right," 
he  said  absently.  "  I  've  slept  late,  have  I  ? 
What  time  is  it  ?  " 

"  Between  ten  minutes  and  a  quarter  past 
eleven  when  I  passed  through  the  hall,"  the 
man  answered.  "  Any  orders  for  the  stables, 
sir?" 

Laurence  was  tearing  open  his  letters.  One 
was  addressed  in  his  wife's  large  and  elaborate 


no     The  Gateless  Barrier 

hand.  Laughing  at  her,  one  day  before  their 
marriage,  he  had  declared  that  did  she  possess 
half  the  amount  of  character  suggested  by 
these  opulent  hieroglyphics,  there  would  posi- 
tively be  no  getting  to  the  end  of  it,  so  that 
his  work  clearly  was  cut  out  for  him  for  the 
rest  of  his  natural  life.  Now  the  sight  of  that 
handwriting — though  he  had  possibly  ceased 
to  regard  it  as  a  perfectly  trustworthy  index  to 
its  writer's  personality  —  affected  him  with  a 
movement  of  vague  self-reproach.  For,  as 
sleep  left  him,  Laurence  entertained  less  and 
less  doubt  of  the  actuality  of  the  existence  of 
his  rose-clad  fairy-lady ;  or  of  the  fact  that  he 
had  spent  hours  with  her  —  hours,  blameless  it 
is. true,  yet  beautiful  beyond  all  remembered 
hours  of  his  experience.  And  though  he  had 
done  no  wrong,  yet  the  very  beauty  of  those 
hours  —  since  she  had  not  shared  it  —  con- 
stituted a  certain  subtle,  subjective  infidelity 
towards  his  wife.  This  pricked  his  conscience 
the  more,  that  he  perceived  Virginia  must 
have  written  to  him  by  the  very  next  mail,  but 
three  days  after  he  had  sailed.  And  that  was 
rather  charming  and  thoughtful  of  her,  for  she 
had  innumerable  engagements  claiming  her 


The  Gateless  Barrier     in 

time  and  attention,  and  was  by  no  means 
addicted  to  anxiety  regarding  the  absent. 
"  Why  should  she  worry,"  as  she  remarked  at 
parting,  "  everybody  was  always  crossing  now, 
and  you  hardly  ever  heard  of  any  one  not 
getting  to  the  other  side  safely  enough." 
Therefore  it  seemed  to  Laurence  it  would  be 
a  duty,  perhaps  also  a  little  salve  to  his  con- 
science, to  do  something  pleasing  —  however 
remotely  —  to  Virginia.  He  had  an  order 
for  the  stables.  He  would  ride  over  to  lunch- 
eon with  her  friend  and  admirer,  Mrs.  Belling- 
ham,  at  Bishop's  Pudbury. 

Once  on  his  feet,  Laurence  was  somewhat 
surprised  at  his  own  sensations.  He  found 
himself  singularly  tired,  as  a  man  may  be  by 
some  prolonged  concentration  of  brain  or  of 
will.  He  felt  as  though  he  had  made  some 
tremendous  mental  effort ;  and,  now  that  it 
was  over,  depression  held  both  his  mind  and 
body.  His  spirits  were  not  as  buoyant  as 
usual,  nor  was  his  thought  clear.  He  felt 
dazed,  and  incapable  of  grappling  with  the 
strange  problems  raised  by  the  events  of  the 
last  twenty-four  hours.  The  swing  of  possibil- 
ity they  suggested  was  too  great.  The  average, 


ii2     The  Gateless  Barrier 

the  banal  attracted  him,  as  a  narcotic  attracts 
one  in  pain.  For  the  moment  he  suffered 
something  approaching  repulsion  towards  his 
recent  exaltation  and  amazing,  half-realised  dis- 
coveries. He  wanted  to  get  back  on  to  the 
ordinary  lines  of  things  —  be  amused,  be  a  trifle 
stupid,  laugh,  gossip,  forget. 

The  sun  had  long  since  burnt  up  that 
sprinkling  of  frost  upon  the  grass.  The  air 
was  fragrant  and  mild.  Catkins  fringed  the 
hazel  twigs,  while  in  the  shelter  of  the  deep 
lanes  leaves  showed  tenderly  green.  The  sap 
had  risen  in  the  trees,  so  that  a  broken  branch 
bled.  Indications  of  fertility  and  growth  were 
everywhere,  Nature  sensibly  putting  forth 
her  strength  after  the  sleep  of  winter.  The 
road  which  Laurence  followed,  after  crossing 
the  park,  turned  upward  under  overhanging 
trees,  and  skirted  the  low,  stone  wall  of  the 
churchyard.  And  the  contrast  between  this 
last  resting-place  of  human  corpses  and  the 
perpetual  and  so  evident  fecundity  of  Nature 
struck  home  to  him,  yet  not  distressfully.  He 
was  not  wholly  unwilling,  in  his  present  mood, 
to  welcome  the  thought  of  eventual  rest. 

He  checked  his  horse,  and  waited,  looking 


The  Gateless  Barrier     113 

at  the  place  again,  —  at  its  dark,  feathery  yew- 
trees,  its  narrow  mounds,  ranged  decently  in 
line  —  on  the  surface  of  which  the  spring  grass 
raised  innumerable  blades  of  vivid  green  —  at 
its  simple  monuments,  that  showed  not  merely 
a  name  and  date  of  departure,  but  time-hon- 
oured words  of  faith  in  the  justice  and  mercy 
of  Almighty  God.  There  was  an  unoccupied 
space  on  the  hither  side  of  the  enclosure,  lying 
pleasantly  open  to  the  sun.  The  grey  wall  of 
the  chancel,  pierced  by  low,  round-headed  win- 
dows, backed  it.  A  bush  of  Pyrus  Japonica 
was  trained  around  and  between  these  windows ; 
and  the  flowers,  showing  up  against  their 
black  stems,  spread  garlands  of  pure,  hot 
colour  over  the  face  of  the  rough  stone. 
Laurence,  to  whom  the  disposal  of  his  body 
after  death  had,  heretofore,  appeared  a  matter 
of  extreme  unimportance,  was  overtaken  by  a 
sudden  eagerness  to  secure  for  himself  rights 
of  burial  in  this  serene  and  sun-visited  spot. 

"  After  all,  it  must  come  to  me,  sooner  or 
later,  as  to  all  the  rest,"  he  thought;  "and 
why  should  n't  I  provide  for  the  event  accord- 
ing to  my  fancy  ?  I  '11  talk  to  the  poor  little 
parson  about  it.  Perhaps  he  '11  be  easier  re- 


ii4     The  Gateless  Barrier 

garding  the  state  of  my  soul  and  my  prospects 
of  salvation  if  I  make  provision  for  my  latter 
end  by  staking  out  a  burial-plot.  I  wonder 
what  Virginia  would  say  to  that  ?  Probably 
she 's  a  little  transatlantic  weakness  for  em- 
balmers  and  mausoleums.  Mother  Earth's  lap 
is  best,  though,  I  think  !  " 

And  then  riding  onward,  all  in  the  fair 
spring  weather,  though  he  tried  to  put  the 
thought  from  him,  his  heart  was  somewhat 
troubled  by  that  flitting,  rose-clad  figure  once 
again — by  the  lovely,  speechless  lips,  to  which 
he  had  brought  gentle  gaiety,  and  the  profound 
and  serious  eyes,  to  which  he  had  brought 
human  sympathy  and  trust.  Silent  or  not, 
woman  or  disembodied  spirit,  she  was  a  little 
too  captivating  for  safety.  Should  he  inquire 
no  further  ?  But,  in  renouncing  all  further  in- 
tercourse with  her,  would  he  perpetrate  an  act 
of  high  moral  courage,  or  merely  commit  one 
of  intellectual  cowardice,  such  as  that  already 
committed  by  his  uncle?  Here  was  a  problem 
not  easy  of  solution.  Laurence  straightened 
himself  in  the  saddle,  and  pressed  his  horse 
a  little.  Bishop's  Pudbury  would  be  a  relief, 
and  should  be  reached  with  as  small  delay  as 


The  Gate  less  Barrier      115 

possible.  He  would  try  to  be  amused,  a  little 
stupid,  to  laugh,  gossip,  and  forget  —  for  a 
time  at  all  events. 

Mrs.  Bellingham,  certainly,  offered  an  ex- 
cellent contrast  to  the  spirit  of  his  present  per- 
turbations. She  was  a  notable  example  of 
modern  civilisation,  guiltless  of  all  mysterious 
or  primitive  suggestion.  Her  prettiness  was 
considerable,  according  to  a  neat  and  unaccen- 
tuated  type.  Her  manner  was  vivacious,  her 
attitudes  many  but  sincere.  She  wore  these  — 
so  to  speak  —  to  bring  out  the  value  of  her 
conversation,  as  she  wore  her  irreproachably 
constructed  clothes  to  bring  out  those  of  her 
plump  and  carefully  preserved  figure.  Her 
light-brown  hair  was  parted  in  the  middle, 
waved,  and  puffed  out  over  the  ears  —  this  in 
imitation  of  the  fashion  lately  patronised  by 
Virginia  Rivers.  The  set  of  her  purple,  box- 
cloth  coat  and  skirt  pleased  Laurence's  eye,  as 
did  that  of  her  white  satin  and  lace  blouse. 
She  was  really  admirably  turned  out  —  accord- 
ing to  current  standards  of  fashion.  She 
greeted  her  guest,  moreover,  with  that  happy 
combination  of  self-consciousness  and  self- 
assurance,  which  has  in  it  at  once  a  flavour  of 


n6     The  Gateless  Barrier 

compliment  and  promise  of  worthy  entertain- 
ment. Mrs.  Jack  Bellingham  would  never 
do  anything  very  great ;  but  she  aspired  and 
succeeded  in  doing  the  small  things  of  life 
remarkably  well. 

"Why,  Mr.  Rivers,  this  is  quite  too  charm- 
ing for  anything,"  she  said.  "  But,  unfortu- 
nately, I  am  alone  here  with  my  children.  I 
devote  a  great  deal  of  time  now  to  my 
children.  My  husband  has  gone  up  to  town 
for  the  day." 

"  So  much  the  better,"  Laurence  answered 
cheerfully.  "  I  did  n't  come  to  see  Jack,  dear 
Mrs.  Bellingham,  but  wholly  and  solely  to  see 
you.  Virginia  charged  me  with  innumerable 
messages.  And  then  there  are  a  whole  lot  of 
people  we  both  know  I  want  to  talk  to  you 
about  —  a  few  multiplications,  subtractions,  and 
divisions,  you  know,  not  without  a  humor- 
ous side  to  them  here  and  there.  Will  you 
keep  me  to  luncheon  ?  Oh  !  that 's  awfully 
good  of  you." 

The  Pudbury  manor-house  had  lately 
undergone  reconstruction,  thereby  gaining  in 
convenience  what  it  lost  in  distinction.  It  was 
now  as  well  designed  to  meet  modern  require- 


The  Gate/ess  Barrier     117 

ments,  as  finished,  as  generally  presentable  and 
as  little  of  an  enigma,  as  its  present  hostess. 
Laurence  contemplated  the  elegant,  if  slightly 
unhomelike,  room  with  a  movement  of  ironi- 
cal satisfaction.  Its  contents  were  as  agreeably 
obvious  and  unrecondite  as  the  style  and  plot 
of  a  current  magazine  story.  It  made  no  de- 
mand upon  the  intelligence  or  the  emotions. 
And  Laurence  had  been  in  contact  with  quite 
other  literary  subject-matter  lately  —  problems 
of  love,  morals,  metaphysics,  not  unworthy  to 
inspire  the  magnificent  obscurities  of  Browning, 
or  the  fine  frenzies  of  Shelley's  lyrics.  There- 
fore he  hailed  the  emotional  limitations  of  his 
existing  environment.  The  indolent  side  of 
his  nature  was  paramount.  He  settled  down  to 
chatter  genially  about  Tom,  Dick,  and  Harry, 
and  the  fair  ladies  interested  in  those  worthies, 
or  in  whom  those  worthies  were  interested. 
He  was  amused  and  amusing,  relished  his 
luncheon,  his  hostess's  smart  talk,  and  enjoyed 
countless  reminiscences  of  Newport  and  New 
York.  And,  as  the  ease  of  this  attitude  of 
mind  began  to  grow  on  him,  the  question  very 
forcibly  presented  itself:  — why  strain  ?  Why 
not  always  drift  thus  pleasantly  and  com- 


n8     The  Gateless  Barrier 

fortably  down  the  smooth  stream  of  worldly 
prosperity  ?  Why  try  to  plumb  the  depths 
lying  below  that  smiling  surface  ?  For  does 
not  this,  in  the  majority  of  cases,  involve  an 
expenditure  of  energy  out  of  all  proportion  to 
the  worth  of  the  result  ?  To  be  light-in-hand 
and  light-of-heart  —  was  not  that  after  all  the 
truest  philosophy  ?  To  what  a  hopelessly 
dreary  pass  had  not  the  elder  Mr.  Rivers 
brought  himself  by  thinking  otherwise  ;  and 
taking  his  studies,  his  opinions,  himself,  in 
short,  so  seriously  ! 

So,  sipping  his  coffee  in  the  drawing-room 
after  luncheon,  while  Mrs.  Bellingham  main- 
tained the  flow  of  conversation  in  penetrating 
and  emphatic  tones,  Laurence  thought  —  yes, 
on  the  whole,  he  did  think  —  it  would  be 
wiser  and  better,  to  retire  upon  the  former 
lines  of  his  life,  —  to  eschew  high  ambitions 
of  sorts,  and  fall  back  upon  the  works  and 
ways  of  r  homme  moyen  sensuel^  upon  the 
great,  good-natured,  uninspired  Commonplace, 
of  which  his  uncle  had  accredited  him  with 
being  so  oblivious  and  complete  an  exponent. 
He  thought  —  notwithstanding  the  tightening 
of  some  cord  at  his  heart,  perhaps  moral,  per- 


'The  Gateless  Barrier     119 

haps  merely  physical  —  yes,  honestly  he  did 
think  he  had  better  do  that,  and  make  his 
decision  here  and  now.  Judging  by  past 
experience,  he  was  doomed  in  all  departments 
to  be  second,  not  to  say  third-rate.  Well, 
then,  best  accept  that  doom  smiling.  To  do 
so  might  hurt  vanity  a  bit,  yet  undoubtedly 
there  would  be  consolations.  Laurence  set 
down  his  coffee-cup  with  a  little  lift  of  the 
eyebrows  and  shoulders,  and  an  expression  of 
countenance  somewhat  cynical.  He  would 
coquet  no  longer  with  fairy,  rose-clad  ladies 
—  he  would  decline  the  so  strangely  offered 
adventure. 

"  The  truth  is,  I  'm  not  big  enough  for  it," 
he  thought  to  himself  ruefully. 

"You  know  just  how  1  feel  about  Virginia," 
his  hostess  was  saying.  "  She  is  a  perfectly 
lovely  woman  in  every  way,  and  her  social 
sense  amounts  to  genius.  The  thought  of 
her  being  over  makes  it  possible  for  me  to 
contemplate  spending  another  winter  here  in 
the  country.  I  look  forward  to  seeing  Vir- 
ginia lay  hold  of  this  neighbourhood  and  just 
put  it  through.  Her  brightness,  and  verve, 
and  savoir  faire  will  be  a  perfect  revelation. 


120     The  Gateless  Barrier 

She     will     positively    electrify    every     person 
within  a  fifteen  mile  radius.     But  —  " 

And  there  the  speaker  paused.  For  along 
the  carriage-drive,  all  in  the  pleasant  sunshine, 
the  children  of  the  house,  a  trifle  inebriated 
by  recent  dinner  of  chicken  aud  rice  pudding, 
by  freedom,  and  the  open  air,  went  forth  with 
shoutings  and  laughter  for  their  afternoon 
walk.  First  Sybil  and  her  younger  sister, 
arrayed  in  straight,  scarlet  jackets,  beneath 
which  showed  a  long  length  of  tan  boot  and 
tan  stocking,  encasing  very  active  legs.  Then 
the  portly  coachman,  leading  a  donkey,  upon 
which  the  three-year-old  son  and  heir  of 
the  Bellingham  family,  also  scarlet-coated, 
made  a  first  essay  in  horsemanship.  Finally, 
two  nurses  clothed  in  white.  The  little  girls 
ran  wildly,  their  gay  figures  backed  by  a  bank 
of  shrubbery  —  rusty  red  of  berberis  and  glint- 
ing green  of  laurels  —  while  the  pink  and 
azure  balloon-balls  they  carried  were  whisked 
heavenward  by  the  wind  to  the  uttermost 
length  of  each  tethering  string.  Around  the 
procession,  barking,  circling,  jumping  high 
in  air  after  the  floating  balls,  and  even  threat- 
ening assault  of  the  donkey's  nose,  skirmished 


"The  Gateless  Barrier     121 

a  couple  of  rough  Irish  terriers.  The  donkey 
shied,  the  coachman  admonished,  a  laughing 
nurse  ran  forward  and  clutched  the  small 
cavalier  by  the  outstanding  skirt  of  his  coat 
and  by  the  seat  of  his  nether  garments.  The 
little  girls  shrieked  and  capered,  and  in  such 
hilarious  fashion  the  company  passed  out  of 
sight. 

Laurence  Rivers's  eyes  rested  rather  wist- 
fully upon  the  scene.  It  belonged  to  the 
great,  good-natured,  uninspired  Commonplace 
upon  which  he  was  just  agreeing  with  himself 
to  retire  ;  and  it  offered  a  comely  and  whole- 
some enough  example  of  the  same.  Mrs. 
Bellingham  also  had  turned  towards  the 
window,  and  the  expression  of  her  neat  face 
had  softened.  The  self-consciousness,  the 
worldliness  therein  usually  displayed,  were  in 
abeyance,  while  the  beautiful  content  of 
motherhood  was  regnant,  visibly  enthroned. 
Laurence  had  never  supposed  she  could  look 
so  charming,  and  he  could  have  found  it  in 
his  heart  to  envy  his  friend  Jack  Bellingham. 
Very  early  in  their  connection  Virginia  had 
pointed  out  to  him,  with  consummate  tact  but 
entire  lucidity,  that  the  modern  husband,  who 


122     The  Gateless  Barrier 

marries  a  fascinating  woman  of  society  and 
really  appreciates  her,  will  give  proof  of  such 
appreciation  by  relegating  the  matter  of  child- 
bearing  to  a  dim  and  distant  future.  It  will 
come  all  in  good  time  no  doubt,  but  it  can 
wait.  For  is  not  it  really  a  little  too  much, 
in  these  days  of  enlightened  equality  between 
man  and  woman,  to  require  the  latter  to  forego 
amusement,  to  endure  serious  discomfort,  risk 
her  freshness  and  her  figure,  even  come 
within  measurable  distance  —  in  not  infrequent 
cases  —  of  the  supremely  foolish  calamity  of 
death  ?  —  Political  economy  and  the  health 
of  the  race  notwithstanding,  let  the  poor 
breed ;  let  the  obscure  breed ;  let  that  in- 
numerable company  of  women,  to  whom  life 
offers  so  much  of  a  trial  and  so  little  of  a 
pastime,  that  in  the  sum-total  of  their  infelicity 
one  pain  or  peril  the  more  cannot  make  any 
appreciable  difference  —  let  these  breed.  But 
spare  the  fair  Virginias,  those  fine  flowers  of 
wealth  and  worldly  circumstance,  to  whom 
Fortune  shows  so  radiant  a  face  !  It  is  simple 
justice  and  reason  so  to  do  —  at  least  such 
had  been  Virginia's  argument. 

But  as   Laurence  now  reflected  —  wiser  by 


"The  Gateless  Barrier     123 

some  year  and  a  half  s  experience  of  woman 
and  matrimony  —  if  life  on  the  lines  of  the 
Commonplace  is  to  afford  its  legitimate  com- 
pensations, it  must  not  be  trained  too  fine, 
or  jockeyed  too  carefully.  The  man's  ear 
must  not  be  too  ready  to  hear  specious 
arguments,  nor  his  imagination  to  entertain 
too  elaborate  sympathies.  He  must  compel 
those  said  fine  flowers  to  bow  their  heads  to 
the  common  yoke.  All  his  life  he  —  Lau- 
rence —  had  been  liable  to  stultify  himself 
by  permitting  his  imagination  to  turn  up  in 
the  wrong  place.  What  good  luck  to  have 
been  born,  like  his  friend  cheery  Jack  Belling- 
ham,  devoid  of  that  embarrassing  faculty  ! 
Good  luck  for  Jack  himself,  and  for  his  wife 
—  who  just  looked  so  delightfully  pretty  — 
and  for  those  three  nice,  shouting,  scarlet- 
coated,  small  Bellinghams,  otherwise  only  too 
probably  non-existent. 

Laurence  had  ceased  suddenly  to  be  much 
amused ;  had  ceased  to  relish  discussion  of 
mutual  friends,  reminiscence  or  anecdote.  He 
rose  with  the  intention  of  bidding  his  hostess 
farewell ;  but  her  self-consciousness,  her  man- 
ner and  manners,  came  back  with  a  snap. 


124     The  Gateless  Barrier 

"Why,  Mr.  Rivers,  you  do  not  propose 
to  leave  yet,"  she  protested.  "  I  am  not 
half  through  with  our  conversation,  I  assure 
you.  We  have  not  yet  approached  the  sub- 
ject upon  which  I  am  most  keen  for  first- 
hand information.  I  am  perfectly  wild  to 
hear  on  what  terms  you  believe  Virginia, 
with  her  bright,  fearless,  highly-developed, 
modern  temperament,  will  be  with  your  family 
spectre." 


XII 

LAURENCE  drew  himself  up  with 
a  sharp  sensation  of  annoyance,  geni- 
ality and   wistfulness  alike  departing 
from    his    aspect.       The    matter    had 
never  presented  itself  to   him   in  this  combi- 
nation before,  and  it  offended  his  taste,  even, 
in  a  degree,  his  sense  of  decency.      He  paused 
a  moment,    and    then    took    refuge   in   slight 
insincerity. 

"Always  assuming,  dear  Mrs.  Bellingham, 
that  there  is  a  family  spectre  for  Virginia,  or 
anybody  else,  to  be  on  terms  with?" 

"  Why,  you  do  not  really  propose  to  call 
that  thrilling  fact  in  question  ? "  the  lady 
answered,  very  brightly.  "  That  would  be 
too  mortifying.  It  would  constitute  the  cli- 
max of  the  ennui  from  which  I  have  suffered 
during  the  many  months  of  this  English 
winter.  I  had  promised  myself  at  least  one 
vital  sensation  when  you  and  I  should  meet, 
and  you  should  tell  me  the  true,  inward 
history  of  that  romantic,  old  house  of  yours, 
Stoke  Rivers." 

She  sat  in  an  attitude,  arranged   the  folds 


The  Gateless  Barrier 


of  her  boxcloth  shirt,  patted  the  lace  into 
place  about  her  neck. 

"  You  make  me  feel  very  badly,"  she  said. 

Laurence  objected  to  soiling  his  conscience 
by  lying  at  least  as  much  as  most  men.  But 
surely,  he  argued,  there  are  cases  of  justifiable 
perjury,  as  of  justifiable  homicide. 

"  I  am  awfully  sorry,"  he  said,  "  to  dash 
your  hopes  of  a  sensation.  But,  you  see, 
neither  the  romantic,  old  house  or  its  inward 
history  are  my  property  as  yet,  so  I  can't 
give  either  away  however  much  I  may  desire 
to  do  so." 

"  I  know  it.  I  do  not  ask  you  to  commit 
any  indiscretion.  I  do  not  ask  you  to  tell 
me  anything." 

Laurence  braced  himself. 

"  How  fortunate,  since  there  's  nothing  to 
tell  !  "  he  said. 

His  hostess  looked  hard  at  him  for  a 
moment,  and  then  at  the  floor. 

"  There  was  a  time,  before  I  lived  among 
them,  when  I  believed  the  English  to  be 
a  simple  and  undiplomatic  nation,"  she  said. 
"  I  know  better  now." 

Laurence  was  half-amused,  half-irritated. 


'The  Gate  less  Barrier     127 

"  Oh,  come  !  "  he  retorted,  "  it 's  too  bad 
to  make  it  an  international  question." 

<c  I  had  promised  myself  such  a  fine  time 
in  that  house,"  she  continued,  still  gazing 
abstractedly  at  the  floor.  cc  Virginia  is,  I 
consider  —  and  I  believe  you  know  that  — 
the  most  perfectly  lovely  woman  of  my  ac- 
quaintance. She  represents  the  last  word  of 
our  American  culture ;  and  I  would  advise 
every  young  girl,  who  was  ambitious  of 
social  success,  to  study  her  as  a  model.  She 
catches  right  on  to  everything  new  at  once, 
and  her  power  of  repartee  is  great.  My 
admiration  for  Virginia  is  so  overpowering, 
that  it  would  really  be  a  wonderful  encourage- 
ment to  my  self-respect  to  get  a  step  ahead 
of  her  for  once.  Well,  I  concluded  I  could 
do  that  in  a  perfectly  legitimate  manner.  I 
planned  to  ask  you  to  let  me  go  right  around 
that  house  from  cellar  to  garret,  and  acquaint 
myself  with  the  whole  interior.  I  wanted  to 
see  it  before  Virginia  had  brought  our 
younger  and  more  complex  Western  civilisa- 
tion to  bear  upon  it.  I  promised  myself 
great  gratification  from  doing  that." 

As  she  finished   speaking,  Mrs.  Bellingham 


128     The  Gateless  Barrier 

raised  her  eyes.  That  she  was  in  earnest, 
keenly  inquisitive,  there  could  be  no  doubt. 

"  But,  unhappily,  in  asking  that  you  would 
be  asking  me  to  commit  the  greatest  possible 
indiscretion,"  Laurence  answered,  laughing 
a  little.  "  You  see,  my  uncle  is  alive  as  yet. 
And  while  he  lives  I  must  obey  orders." 

"  Orders  ?  " 

"  Yes ;  and  they  are  such  preposterously 
unchivalrous  orders  that  I  tremble  to  men- 
tion them  to  you." 

Mrs.  Bellingham  looked  away.  She  grew 
a  trifle  anxious,  having  the  greatest  fear  of 
hearing  anything  even  remotely,  morally  or 
socially,  incorrect.  But  the  young  man's 
manner  tended  to  reassure  her.  He  appeared 
particularly  engaging  at  that  moment. 

"  Yes,  it  will  shock  you,"  he  said,  "  shock 
you  outrageously,  coming  as  you  do  from 
a  country  where  no  member  of  your  delight- 
ful sex  is  ever  requested  to  take  a  back  seat. 
My  uncle  is  a  brilliantly  clever  person,  but 
on  some  points  he  is  a  little  mad.  And 
simply  at  Stoke  Rivers  —  I  blush  to  men- 
tion it — no  woman  is  admitted,  no  woman 
is  permitted  to  exist." 


"The  Gateless  Barrier     129 

Mrs.  Bellingham's  eyes  positively  flashed, 
her  face  went  extremely  pink. 

"  But  this  is  the  most  unparalleled  coun- 
try !  "  she  exclaimed.  "  Mr.  Rivers,  do  you 
seriously  intend  me  to  believe  that  no  lady 
may  enter  that  house  ?  Why,  I  ask  you,  how 
is  it  possible  to  conduct  a  domestic  establish- 
ment under  such  circumstances  ?  " 

"  Ah !  that 's  the  worst  of  it,"  Laurence 
said.  He  was  beginning  to  be  amused  again. 
<c  I  tell  you,  the  condition  of  that  house 
suggests  the  most  awful  reflections." 

"  I  am  glad  to  hear  it." 

<c  Yes,  awful,"  he  repeated.  "  For  it  is  the 
best  mounted,  the  best  served,  the  best  kept 
house  I  have  ever  stayed  in.  It  is  as  clean 
as  a  new  pin.  The  whole  thing  moves  on 
wheels  —  and  yet  never  the  trace  of  a  petti- 
coat !  It  follows  that  one  is  assailed  by  the 
unholy  suspicion  that  woman  may  be,  after 
all,  a  quite  superfluous  luxury  ;  and  that  the 
work  of  the  world,  even  in  its  humble, 
domestic  aspects,  can  get  along  just  as  well 
without  her.  My  uncle  entertains  this  opin- 
ion anyhow,  and  gives  the  most  convincing 
practical  exposition  of  it.  He  has  supplied 


130     The  Gateless  Barrier 

me  with  a  large  amount  of  information  under 
this  head  ;  and,  upon  my  word,  I  'm  afraid  I  am 
beginning  to  see  the  force  of  his  arguments. 
After  that,  I  'd  better  go,  had  n't  I  ?  " 

"  Well,  I  really  believe  perhaps  you  had," 
she  answered.  For  once  she  looked  per- 
plexed, almost  flurried.  Her  face  was  still 
decidedly  pink.  But  she  rallied  herself,  and 
fired  a  parting  shot.  —  "Unless,"  she  added, 
"to  make  amends  for  having  told  me  so 
very  plainly  that  my  presence  would  not  be 
tolerated  at  Stoke  Rivers,  you  relent  and 
give  me  the  whole  story  of  that  family 
spectre." 

Laurence  raised  his  head  sharply,  and  once 
more  his  sense  of  amusement  evaporated. 
The  return  to  this  theme  jarred  on  him.  The 
lady's  persistence  appeared  to  him  in  singu- 
larly bad  taste.  The  reiteration  of  that  word 
angered  him  moreover.  In  hearing  it  he  was 
sensible  of  a  turn  in  his  blood,  as  though  an 
insult  were  being  offered  to  one  very  dear  to 
him. 

"  Spectre  ?  "  he  said  slowly.  "  Pardon  me 
—  I  —  I  don't  quite  follow  you.  What 
spectre  ? " 


The  Gateless  Barrier     131 

His  hostess  was  roused  in  her  turn. 

"Why,  Mr.  Rivers,  what  has  happened  to 
you  ?  "  she  inquired.  "  What  have  I  said  to 
disturb  your  equanimity  ?  I  had  not  sup- 
posed you  to  be  so  sensitive." 

Whereupon  the  folly  of  his  anger  became 
extremely  apparent  to  Laurence ;  the  more 
so  that  he  had  so  recently  concluded  to 
eschew  ambitious  adventures  and  decline 
upon  the  large  and  unexciting  levels  of  the 
Commonplace.  In  those  regions  hasty  re- 
sentments, hot  blood,  the  fine-gentleman- 
duelling-spirit,  in  short,  is  clearly  out  of  the 
picture.  And  then,  why  quarrel  with  Mrs. 
Bellingham  of  all  people  ?  She  was  a  very 
charming,  little  person,  specially  when  —  as 
just  now  —  her  glance  dwelt  fondly  upon 
her  red-coated  babies  and  their  escort  of 
nurses,  donkey,  and  dogs.  If  she  had 
trodden  on  his  toes,  it  was  unwittingly,  and 
without  any  intention  of  malice.  So  he  pro- 
ceeded to  make  amende  honorable  with  proper 
despatch. 

"  Forgive  me,"  he  said ;  "  I  am  an  idiot. 
But  the  legends  to  which  my  poor  old  uncle's 
crankiness  have  given  rise  really  begin  to  get 


"The  Gateless  Barrier 


upon  my  brain.  Wherever  I  go  they  crop 
up.  You  can  understand  it  becomes  a  little 
exasperating.  —  Good-bye.  I  have  had  a  de- 
lightful time.  Love  to  Jack." 

The  lady  smiled  upon  him,  yet  with  an  air 
of  criticism  and  slight  reserve. 

"Oh  yes,"  she  said,  "certainly,  Mr. 
Rivers,  love  to  Jack.  But  I  am  going  to 
write  to  Virginia  and  report  on  our  interview. 
I  believe  it  is  incumbent  on  me  as  a  true  friend 
to  do  that.  —  Yes,  you  may  come  again  just 
as  soon  as  you  like.  Now,  do  I  not  display 
a  perfectly  lovely  spirit  in  inviting  you  here 
after  you  have  done  just  all  you  know  to 
explode  my  romance  ?  Mr.  Rivers,  this  day 
will  leave  a  scar.  I  know  it.  I  do  regret 
that  spectre." 

Laurence  smiled  back,  looking  down  at 
her. 

"Yes,  it's  a  pity,  isn't  it,"  he  said,  "ever 
to  explode  a  romance  ?  There  are  n't  too 
many  of  them  about.  Perhaps  I  too  could 
find  it  in  my  heart  to  regret  that  spectre." 

And  there,  at  least,  the  young  man  spoke 
truth,  for  regrets  pursued  him  on  his  home- 
ward way.  All  this  talk,  moreover,  was  a 


The  Gateless  Barrier     133 

nuisance,  an  intolerable  nuisance.  And, 
though  he  did  not  stay  to  analyse  the 
probabilities  of  when  and  how,  he  appre- 
hended up-croppings,  developments,  and 
ramifications  of  the  said  nuisance  in  the  future. 
Mrs.  Bellingham's  question,  as  to  the  attitude 
Virginia  might  adopt  towards  the  occult  ele- 
ment in  her  husband's  fine  inheritance,  was 
more  uncomfortably  pertinent  than  the  ques- 
tioner could  by  any  means  have  imagined. 
It  suggested  most  disturbing  complications. 
Thus  Laurence  rode  onward  heedlessly,  har- 
assed by  vexatious  and  perplexing  thoughts. 

"  What  a  confounded  bother  it  all  is  !  "  he 
exclaimed  impatiently.  "  I  wish  to  goodness 
the  poor  old  man  would  live  for  ever  —  out- 
live me  anyhow.  That  would  be  the  sim- 
plest solution  of  the  situation." 

He  raised  his  head  and  looked  about  him, 
then  became  aware  that  he  must  have  taken 
some  wrong  turn  in  the  labyrinth  of  cross- 
country roads  between  Bishop's  Pudbury  and 
Stoke  Rivers,  that  he  must  have  struck  too 
far  southward  and  so  lost  his  way.  The 
mouth  of  the  steep,  rutted  lane,  shut  in  by 
copse  on  either  hand,  which  he  had  been 


134    'The  Gateless  Barrier 

following,  now  debouched  on  a  high-lying 
table-land.  Small,  rough  fields  bordered  the 
road,  their  crumbling,  ill-kept  banks  bare  of 
trees.  Some  fifty  yards  ahead,  where  four 
roads  crossed,  stood  a  lonely,  one-story,  turn- 
pike house ;  it  was  six-sided,  white-washed, 
and  had  a  slated  roof,  rising  extinguisher- 
like  to  a  single  central  chimney.  Placed  in 
an  angle  of  the  intersecting  roads,  it  was 
without  garden  ground.  The  turnpike-gate 
had  long  ago  disappeared ;  and  the  house, 
a  thing  that  had  lost  its  use  and  become  obso- 
lete, was  in  a  half-ruinous  condition.  An  air 
of  cheap  desolation  pervaded  it.  Bundles 
of  rags  bulged  from  the  broken  window- 
panes.  Long-legged,  high-shouldered  fowls 
pecked  and  squatted  in  the  dust  before  the 
half-open  door.  Yet,  seeing  it,  Laurence  was 
sensible  that  this  unsightly  building  had  a 
tally  somewhere  in  his  memory,  and  claimed 
recognition.  And  this  impression  received 
unexpected  reinforcement  when  suddenly  its 
squalid  walls  changed  from  dirty-white  to 
warm  primrose,  while  the  surviving  glass  in 
its  rickety  windows  gave  off"  dazzling  splen- 
dours of  light. 


'The  Gateless  Barrier     135 

Anxious  to  learn  the  cause  of  this  trans- 
formation, the  young  man  drew  up,  and, 
laying  his  right  hand  upon  his  horse's  sleek 
quarters,  turned  half  round  in  the  saddle,  and 
stayed  thus,  looking  and  listening. 

The  view  was  very  noble.  Southward  the 
fall  of  the  ground  was  sufficiently  abrupt  to 
exclude  all  middle  distance,  with  the  result 
that  the  rough  grasses,  withered  bents  and 
sorrel-stalks  of  the  near  pasture-field  were 
outlined  against  the  immense  sweep  of  the 
flat  coastline  far  below  —  this  last,  mauve, 
and  russet,  and  dim  green,  was  broken  here 
and  there  by  a  pallor  of  sandhills  and  the 
shimmer  of  seaward-tending  streams.  Look- 
ing west,  the  suave  contours  of  the  Downs 
and  Beachy  Head  rose,  in  indigo  and  purple, 
against  a  great  space  of  saffron-coloured  sky. 
Above  them,  but  with  a  bar  of  strong  light 
between,  heavy  masses  of  purple-grey  cloud 
gathered,  from  out  which  the  freshening  wind 
blew  chill.  The  sea,  steel-blue  and  dashed 
with  white-capped  waves,  lifted  a  hard,  ser- 
rated edge  against  the  horizon. 

All  this  Laurence  saw.  It  made  a  rather 
splendid  picture,  big  with  the  drama  of 


136     The  Gateless  Barrier 

approaching  storm.  Yet  he  was  persuaded 
something  was  lacking.  As  three  days  ago 
upon  first  entering  the  yellow  drawing-room 
at  Stoke  Rivers,  he  had,  after  the  first  mo- 
ment of  surprise,  instinctively  looked  for 
certain  ornaments  and  pieces  of  furniture,  and 
derived  a  singular  satisfaction  from  the  con- 
viction that  they  still  occupied  their  accus- 
tomed place  —  so  now  and  here,  though  to 
his  knowledge  he  had  never  before  ridden 
across  this  piece  of  exposed  and  but  half- 
reclaimed  common-land,  or  seen  the  great 
view  under  its  existing  aspect,  —  he  instinc- 
tively gazed  seaward  in  search  of  that  which 
should  support  his  half-awakened  memory, 
and  complete  the  scene  to  his  satisfaction. 
For  surely  —  yes,  surely  —  bowling  up  Chan- 
nel, under  crowded  canvas,  before  the  freshen- 
ing breeze,  he  should  behold  a  fleet  of  some 
eight  or  ten  square-rigged  East  Indiamen,  their 
carven  poops  standing  high  out  of  the  water, 
—  vessels  of  about  a  thousand  tons'  burden, 
laden  with  tea  and  spices,  bales  of  delicate 
muslins  and  silks,  flasks  of  utter,  porcelain, 
ivory  fans,  bright-hued  parrots,  and  unseemly, 
little  apes. 


The  Gateless  Barrier     137 

And  as  convoy  of  these  rich  cargoes,  to 
secure  them,  their  merchant  captains  and 
bronzed  and  sturdy  crews,  against  the  rapacity 
of  privateers  sweeping  out  from  St.  Malo 
and  other  ports  of  Northern  France,  he 
should  behold  —  yes,  surely  he  should  — 
a  couple  of  smart  English  frigates,  square- 
rigged  too,  whose  clean  scrubbed  decks  and 
the  black  mouths  of  whose  port  holes  dis- 
played grim  argument  of  cannon,  ready  for 
action  should  occasion  so  demand.  The 
ships,  hugging  the  land  for  greater  safety  from 
alert  and  hungry  foes,  seemed  —  while  the 
wind  filled  the  bellying  sails,  straining  their 
tall  masts,  as  they  heeled  upon  that  uneasy, 
blue-grey  sea — like  some  flight  of  huge, 
golden-plumage  birds ;  for  all  the  saffron 
glory  now  streaming  from  beneath  the  gath- 
ering storm-clouds  in  the  west  must  lie  full 
on  them. 

For  such  gallant  sight  Laurence  watched, 
singularly  moved,  and  with  a  singular  eager- 
ness. And  so  clear  was  the  vision  to  his 
mind,  so  necessary  to  the  completion  of  the 
scene  upon  which  his  eyes  rested,  that  for 
some  moments  he  failed  to  distinguish  where 


138     The  Gateless  Barrier 

actuality  ended  and  hallucination  began.  He 
contemplated  the  creation  of  his  own  brain 
in  absorbed  interest ;  then  turned  and  looked 
at  the  rough  road  and  dilapidated  turnpike 
house,  and  then  again  out  to  sea.  Only  a 
black-hulled,  ocean-going  tramp,  her  deck- 
houses piled  up  amidships  close  against  her 
reeking  funnel,  laboured  slowly  down  channel 
in  the  teeth  of  the  gusty  breeze.  This  was 
all;  and  then  the  young  man  understood,  not 
without  amazement,  that  the  gallant  show 
had  been  a  thing  of  the  imagination  only,  — 
at  most  a  thing  remembered,  but  how  and 
whence  remembered  he  could  not  tell.  For 
how,  upon  any  reasonable  hypothesis,  could 
the  memory  of  a  man  like  himself  of  but  just 
over  thirty,  put  back  the  clock  by  close  upon 
a  century,  and  disport  itself  with  incidents 
belonging  by  rights  to,  at  least,  two  genera- 
tions ago  ?  It  was  all  most  exceedingly 
strange.  It  amounted  to  being  disquieting. 
Really  he  did  not  half  like  it.  Yet  the 
imagined  spectacle  had  been  very  inspiring  all 
the  same.  It  had  made  his  blood  tingle,  and 
had  effectually  (or  disastrously)  exorcised  that 
spirit  of  indolence  and  laisser  aller  which  he 


'The  Gateless  Barrier     139 

had  solicited  to  take  up  its  abode  with  him. 
He  sent  his  horse  forward  at  a  sharp  trot, 
while  once  again  he  proceeded  to  revise  the 
situation. 

For  the  idea  presented  itself  that  perhaps 
he  had  been  over  self-confident,  arrogating  to 
himself  a  far  greater  freedom  of  will  than  he, 
in  point  of  fact,  possessed.  It  was  all  very 
fine  to  foreswear  adventure,  but  what  if 
adventure  refused  to  be  foresworn  ?  He 
might  easily  propose  to  decline  upon  modern- 
ity, mediocrity,  and  the  Commonplace ;  but 
what  if  these,  as  seemed  just  now  highly 
probable,  asserted  in  unmistakable  language 
their  determination  to  have  none  of  him  ? 
He  reflected  that  temperament  may  constitute 
your  genius  or  your  fate,  your  opportunity 
or  your  ruin,  as  you  have  the  wit  to  deal 
with  it ;  but  that  temperament  is  indestruc- 
tible, and  that  escape  from  it,  —  however 
inconvenient  and  contrary  to  your  desire 
that  temperament  may  be,  —  is  obviously  and 
inherently  impossible. 

As  he  meditated  thus,  the  road  he  followed 
dipped  slightly,  leaving  the  bare  upland  and 
passing  along  the  under  side  of  a  thick  belt 


i4°     'The  Gateless  Barrier 

of  wood,  which  cut  off  the  seaward  view. 
On  the  left,  between  the  interspaces  of  the 
hedgerow  trees,  the  inland  country  now  lay 
disclosed  for  many  miles.  Clouds  had 
gathered  so  rapidly  in  the  last  ten  minutes 
that  the  sun  was  obscured,  and  all  the  wide 
expanse  was  drowned  in  heavy  violet  and 
indigo  shadow.  Only  a  ridge  of  hill,  some 
three-quarters  of  a  mile  distant,  was  caught 
by  long  shafts  of  wild,  rainbow  light,  so  that 
it  floated  as  a  narrow,  fish-shaped  island  upon 
the  ocean  of  stormy  colour.  And  upon  that 
island,  uplifted,  transmuted,  etherealised, 
rendered  at  once  unreal  yet  insistent,  vividly 
defined  by  the  unnatural  and  searching  light, 
Laurence  beheld  Stoke  Rivers  —  the  long, 
low  house,  and  its  double  range  of  windows, 
its  avenues,  and  carriage-ways,  the  block  of 
stable  buildings  ;  every  detail  of  the  Italian 
garden,  its  cypress  spires  as  of  full-toned 
amethyst,  its  white  balustrades  and  statues 
iridescent  as  though  made  of  long-buried 
Roman  glass,  its  great  lawns  green  as  mala- 
chite, the  dome  of  its  lime-grove  touched  by 
a  dim  glow  as  of  uncut  rubies.  In  this 
strange  and  unearthly  radiance,  Stoke  Rivers 


'The  Gateless  Barrier     141 

seemed  to  call  upon  Laurence,  to  challenge 
his  admiration,  to  assert  its  existence  and  its 
claim  upon  his  heart,  with  a  singular  power. 
It  was  part  of  him,  and  he  of  it.  It  laid 
hands  on  his  past  and  his  future  alike.  It 
refused  to  be  taken  lightly.  As  a  woman 
wears  her  jewels  to  startle  and  enthral  a 
desired  lover,  so  this  dwelling-place  of  his 
people  arrayed  itself  in  marvellous  wise  to 
conquer  his  wavering  allegiance  and  command 
his  thought.  It  would  force  him  not  to 
disregard  its  secrets.  It  wooed  him  to  inti- 
macy, to  discovery.  It  cried  to  him  out,  as 
it  seemed,  of  some  unplumbed  depth  of  ex- 
perience in  himself. 

That  night  Mr.  Rivers  engaged  his  nephew 
until  past  midnight.  His  manner  was 
gracious,  his  mind,  apparently,  unusually  at 
peace.  His  conversation  was  remarkably 
brilliant,  both  in  range  of  subject  and  readi- 
ness of  expression.  First  dealing  with  the 
earliest  known  examples  of  art,  and  displaying 
critical  acquaintance  with  Chaldean  cylinders 
and  stelae,  he  passed  on  to  the  persistent 
influence  of  Eastern  ideas  upon  Western 
religious  thought.  He  discoursed  of  Hindu 


142     The  Gateless  Barrier 

sacred  literature  and  the  crowded  pantheon 
of  Hindu  gods,  noting  how  certain  practices 
connected  with  their  worship  and  certain 
symbols  pertaining  to  it  have  passed  into  the 
common  use  of  the  Catholic  .Church.  He 
discoursed  of  the  Gnostic  sects,  and  their 
influence  upon  African  and  Syrian  Christian- 
ity. Then,  invading  the  Spanish  peninsular 
in  the  train  of  the  Moors,  he  delivered  him- 
self of  a  spirited  disquisition  upon  Averrhoes, 
the  lawyer  philosopher  of  Cordova,  his  doc- 
trine of  the  Universal  Reason  and  denial  of 
the  immortality  of  the  individual  soul. 

Laurence  went  forth  onto  the  bright,  hot 
corridor,  and  paused  at  the  stairhead.  He 
was  honestly  tired  both  in  mind  and  body. 
He  needed,  and  would  take,  an  honest  night's 
rest.  But  one  thing  was  sure.  Whether  he 
had  decided  or  merely  yielded,  whether  he 
represented  the  positive  or  negative  element, 
he  knew  not ;  but  this  he  did  know,  that  the 
Commonplace,  and  all  the  ease  of  it,  might 
wait.  He  was  not  ready  for  that  just  yet. 


XIII 

OF  the  first  twelve  keys,  some  slipped 
round  without  effect,  some  stuck  and 
were  withdrawn  with  difficulty.  But 
the  wards  of  the  thirteenth  bit  into 
the  lock,  and  the  bolt  gave  with  a  click.  Lay- 
ing hold  of  the  cylindrical  front  of  the  es- 
critoire, Laurence  pushed  it  up  and  back. 
Within,  a  row  of  arcaded  pigeon-holes  was 
disclosed ;  and  on  either  side  these,  a  range  of 
little  drawers,  the  pale,  bright  wood  of  which 
retained  its  pristine  polish,  while  the  colours 
of  the  painted  medallions  adorning  them  were 
very  fresh  though  frail.  The  cupids,  the  little 
figures  of  lover  and  mistress,  courtier  and 
prince,  were  instinct  with  vivacity  and  grace  — 
the  heedless  vivacity,  the  artificial  grace  of 
those  over-ripe,  luxurious  periods  which  carry 
in  their  womb  the  seeds  of  revolution  and 
social  catastrophe.  Laurence  was  moved,  ob- 
serving it  all.  Evidently  the  bolt  had  not 
been  shot,  the  rounded  front  run  back,  and 
this  mimic  world  of  fine-fanciful  elegance  dis- 
played for  many  years.  And  then  this  pretty 
toy  of  a  thing  seemed  so  slight  and  incongru- 


144     The  Gateless  Barrier 

ous  a  receptacle  for  the  storage  of  momentous 
secrets.  Yet  that  the  secrets  it  held  were 
momentous,  dealing  with  problems  of  life  and 
death,  subtle  transformations  of  flesh  and  spirit, 
the  young  man  —  notwithstanding  the  sooth- 
ing influences  of  a  healthy  night's  rest,  and  the 
pre-eminently  unexciting  ones  of  a  grey,  wet, 
March  afternoon  —  felt  no  doubt.  For  he 
had  given  in,  as  he  believed,  finally,  to  the  ad- 
venture ;  and  with  that  giving  in,  his  faith  in 
the  magnitude  of  it  suffered,  by  natural  re- 
bound, serious  increase. 

So  reverently,  and  as  one  who  approaches 
a  long  disused  shrine  containing  promise  of 
strange  and  precious  relics,  he  opened  the 
shallow  drawers  and  examined  their  contents. 
The  first  three  were  filled  with  packets  of 
letters,  written  on  thin,  discoloured  paper,  and 
tied,  some  with  pink,  some  with  yellow,  sar- 
senet ribbon.  Each  packet  was  neatly  dated, 
the  dates  ranging,  as  Laurence  gathered  in  a 
first  hasty  survey,  from  the  year  1802  to  the 
year  1805.  The  remaining  drawers  contained 
a  collection  of  objects,  miscellaneous  in  char- 
acter but  united  in  the  thought  (as  he  divined) 
of  whoso  placed  them  there,  side  by  side,  by 


The  Gateless  Barrier     145 

some  exquisitely  tender  sentiment.  —  A  man's 
paste  shoe-buckles,  square  and  bowed,  the 
silver  settings  of  them  tarnished  to  blackness, 
reposed  beside  a  woman's  striped,  waist  rib- 
bon, cinnamon  and  white,  embroidered  in 
buds  and  scattered  full-blown  roses.  Here 
were  seals  cut  from  envelopes,  the  cracked  and 
blistered  wax  of  them  impressed  with  the 
Rivers's  arms  and  crest ;  and  a  store  of  semi- 
transparent,  delicately  tinted  shells,  spoils  of 
some  far-distant,  southern  coast.  There  were 
trinkets,  too,  rings  and  bracelets  of  intricate 
Indian  workmanship  ;  and  a  cluster  of  coral 
charms,  of  Neapolitan  origin,  with  the  tiny 
golden  hand,  first  and  fourth  fingers  stiffly  ex- 
tended, which  keeps  off  the  Evil  Eye.  Next, 
little  posies,  such  as  a  lover  might  pluck  and 
his  mistress  might  wear  for  an  evening, 
pinned,  to  please  him,  in  the  bosom  of  her 
dress.  These  last  were  pressed  and  flattened, 
the  several  hues  of  the  once  radiant  blossoms 
faded  to  an  ashen  uniformity  of  tint.  They 
were  sadly  brittle,  too ;  and  though  Laurence 
raised  them  with  careful  fingers,  crumbled  to 
nothingness  under  his  touch.  Then  he  lighted 
on  a  man's  watch,  a  great,  gold  warming-pan 


146     The  Gateless  Barrier 

of  a  thing,  with  a  guard  of  black  lustre  ribbon 
and  a  bunch  of  heavy  seals  attached.  The 
back  of  the  case  bore  the  Rivers's  crest  —  a 
bird  of  doubtful  lineage,  its  wings  extended  for 
flight,  its  talons  holding  something,  which  to 
Laurence  always  appeared  to  bear  humorous 
relation  to  a  fool's  cap.  The  case  was  also 
engraved  with  the  initials  L.  R.  in  flowing  and 
ornate  lettering. 

And  over  these  initials  Laurence  paused. 
They  piqued  his  curiosity.  They  also,  some- 
what to  his  own  amusement,  provoked  in  him 
a  feeling  suspiciously  akin  to  jealousy.  They 
were  his  own ;  yet  he  could  not  but  imagine 
that  they  were  also  those  of  a  person  closely 
connected  with  the  sweet  and  mysterious  com- 
panion, who  had  walked  the  lawns  and  garden 
alleys  with  him  during  the  small  hours,  fled 
and  vanished  at  cock-crow,  two  nights  back. 
A  very  definite  purpose  of  learning  more 
about  this  same  person  —  of  whom,  he  divined, 
this  pathetic  store  of  objects  to  be  gifts  or 
memorials  —  possessed  Laurence.  Had  he 
wronged  the  gentle  lady  in  life,  so  causing  her 
after  sorrow  ?  Or  had  some  tragic  happening 
parted  him  from  her,  without  fault  of  his? 


The  Gateless  Barrier     147 

And  what  manner  of  man  had  he  been,  while 
a  dweller  here,  in  ordinary  fashion,  upon  earth  ? 
It  became  of  great  moment  to  Laurence  to 
answer  these  questions.  Perhaps  those  packets 
of  discoloured  letters  would  tell.  Meanwhile, 
there  remained  another  shallow,  painted  drawer 
to  be  searched. 

It  contained,  wrapped  face  to  face,  in  a  lace 
and  lawn  handkerchief,  two  very  exquisite 
miniatures  by  Cosway.  And  then,  though  he 
courted  surprises,  agreeing  with  himself  to 
expect  nothing  save  the  unexpected,  and  to 
accept  all  possible  extravagance  of  improbabil- 
ity that  might  arise  with  as  little  dislocation  of 
mind  as  one  accepts  the  extravagancies  of  a 
dream,  Laurence  stood  for  a  moment  speech- 
less, absolutely  confounded. 

For  one  miniature  represented  his  fairy-lady, 
her  lovely  eyes  and  lips  smiling  with  discreet 
gladsomeness,  her  expression  an  enchanting 
union  of  sprightliness  and  of  content.  An 
azure  ribbon  was  threaded  through  the  soft 
masses  of  her  elaborately-dressed  hair,  little 
curls  of  which  strayed  down  on  to  her  forehead. 
The  string  of  pearls  was  clasped  around  her 
throat.  She  wore  her  transparent,  white, 


H8     'The  Gateless  Barrier 

frilled  cape  and  rose-red,  silken  gown.  Her 
graceful  head  and  slender  figure  —  to  the  waist 
— -were  seen  against  a  background  of  faint 
dove-coloured  cloud.  The  painter  had  painted 
fondly  as  a  friend,  it  would  seem,  as  well  as  a 
master  of  his  craft.  —  And  the  other  miniature, 
by  the  same  hand,  showing  the  same  delight- 
ful sympathy  of  artist  with  his  subject,  touched 
by  the  same  poetic  insight  and  grace,  was  a 
portrait  of  whom  ?  Well,  of  himself —  him- 
self, Laurence  Rivers,  not  as  he  was  to-day, 
but  as  he  had  been,  ten  years  ago,  at  one-and- 
twenty.  With  astonishment,  bordering  very 
closely  on  alarm,  he  observed  that  colouring, 
features,  the  square  cutting  of  the  nostrils,  a 
certain  softness  in  the  lines  of  the  mouth,  the 
shape  of  the  head,  the  straight  set  of  the  shoul- 
ders, all  these  were  perfectly  exact.  While  the 
countenance  was  instinct  with  that  inimitable 
charm  of  unsullied  youth,  that  fearlessness  and 
happy  self-confidence,  the  attractive  power  of 
which  he  had  only  fully  realised  as  they  had 
begun  to  fade  out  of  his  aspect  in  the  course 
of  his  passage  from  early  to  maturer  manhood, 
while  the  boundlessly  generous  aspirations  of 
inexperience  were  in  course  of  being  dis- 


The  Gateless  Barrier     149 

credited  by  increasing  knowledge  of  the  stand- 
ards and  habits  of  this  not  altogether  noble  or 
virtuous  world. 

Laurence  took  the  miniature  in  his  hand, 
and  considered  it  closely,  with  a  twinge  of  self- 
abasement.  Endowed  with  so  ingratiating  a 
personality,  so  admirable  a  physical  equipment, 
he  ought  surely  to  have  made  a  definite  name 
and  place  for  himself  in  contemporary  history  ! 
And  what  of  moment  had  he  to  show,  after  all, 
for  his  thirty-one  years  of  living  ?  Practically 
nothing,  he  feared.  And  the  young  man  of 
the  miniature  made  better  play  with  his  hand- 
some person,  and  the  qualities  and  talents 
which  might  be  expected  to  accompany  it  ? 
He  had  been  a  sailor  apparently,  for  he  wore 
the  dark-blue,  naval  uniform  of  the  early  years 
of  the  century,  his  brown  hair  being  tied  back 
into  a  queue.  But  for  these  details  the  resem- 
blance to  himself  was  absolute.  And  then,  sud- 
denly, with  a  sense  of  faintness  as  though  his 
identity  were  slipping  away  from  him,  and  his 
hold  on  actuality  loosening  as  he  imagined  it 
might  loosen  in  the  moments  immediately  pre- 
ceding death,  Laurence  remembered  that  he 
had  worn  a  precisely  similar  costume  —  that 


150     The  Gateless  Barrier 

of  a  naval  lieutenant  of  the  time  of  Nelson  — 
at  a  fancy  dress  ball  given  in  his  honour,  at  the 
country  house  of  certain  of  his  mother's  rela- 
tions, on  the  eve  of  his  twenty-first  birthday. 
He  had  been  mightily  chaffed  about  his  good 
looks  and  air  of  assured  conquest  upon  the 
occasion  in  question  ;  and  had  laughingly  re- 
plied that  he,  too,  intended  to  fight  his  battle 
of  Trafalgar  and  win  it,  only  that  he  should 
take  jolly  good  care  not  to  fall  in  the  hour  of 
success,  but  to  survive  and  thoroughly  enjoy 
the  fruits  of  victory. 

The  miniatures  were  oval,  each  set  in  a  plain 
gold  band.  Laurence  turned  them  over  in 
search  of  a  possible  inscription.  Upon  the 
reverse  of  the  one  were  engraved  the  words  — 
"Agnes,  a  gift  to  her  dear  cousin,"  and  the 
date,  "August  1803."  Upon  the  other  — 
"  Laurence,  a  gift  to  his  dear  love,"  and  the 
same  date. 

Rain  had  followed  on  the  stormy  splendours 
of  the  preceding  evening;  and  as  the  young 
man  raised  his  eyes  absently  and  stared  out 
of  the  great  bay-window,  he  became  sensible 
that  the  outlook  was  comfortless  enough. 
The  gardens  and  the  distant  view  were  blurred 


The  Gateless  Barrier     151 

and  blotted  by  driving  mist ;  while,  in  the 
room  itself,  there  reigned  a  singularly  blear 
and  cheerless  light.  A  damp,  earthy  odour, 
moreover,  pervaded  the  atmosphere,  as  though 
the  moisture  prevailing  out  of  doors  had 
gained  access  to  the  house.  Carefully,  rather 
sadly,  Laurence  laid  the  two  miniatures  side 
by  side  upon  the  filmy  handkerchief.  The 
radiant,  pictured  faces,  the  two  graceful,  young 
heads  turned  slightly  towards  each  other  as  in 
mutual  tenderness  and  sympathy,  offered,  he 
thought,  pathetic  contrast  to  the  melancholy 
of  this  tearful  morning.  That  this  young  man 
had  in  no  way  wronged  the  fair  and  gentle 
woman,  he  now  felt  assured.  But  that  assur- 
ance, so  perverse  is  human  nature,  did  not 
serve  to  elate  him.  Far  from  it.  As  he 
looked  first  at  the  charming  pair,  and  then  at 
the  driving  mist,  a  sense  of  great  loneliness, 
almost  of  desolation,  came  over  him  ;  while 
the  word  spectre  —  which,  when  employed 
yesterday  by  his  lively  hostess  Mrs.  Belling- 
ham,  had  seemed  of  such  meagre  and  even 
vulgar  significance  —  now  occurred  to  him 
with  a  new  and  immediate  meaning.  Spec- 
tral —  that  this  room  was  in  the  present  dreary 


152     The  Gateless  Barrier 

light.  While,  if  the  idea  called  for  further 
and  concrete  presentiment,  he  could  —  looking 
on  the  fearless  and  hopeful  countenance  of 
that  other  Laurence  Rivers  —  offer  it  in  his 
own  person.  Involuntarily  he  shivered,  since, 
for  the  moment,  his  tenure  of  name,  person 
and  individuality,  seemed  so  questionable,  a 
matter  of  sufferance  merely  —  amounting  to 
no  more,  in  fact,  than  a  remote  reversionary 
interest  in  another  man's  goods. 

At  random  he  picked  up  a  couple  of  packets 
of  letters  off  the  top  of  the  escritoire,  where  he 
had  laid  them,  and  moved  across  to  the  win- 
dow. It  was  not  wholesome  to  look  at  those 
happy  faces  —  one  his  own  —  any  longer.  The 
letters  tied  with  a  pink  ribbon  were  in  a 
woman's  hand,  sloped  and  pointed,  but  with 
a  peculiar  elegance  of  lettering  and  evenness 
of  line.  Then  for  an  instant  he  debated, 
questioning  whether  he  could  without  breach 
of  honour,  and  of  the  respect  in  which  all 
decent-minded  persons  hold  the  dead,  open 
and  read  these  letters.  The  position  was  ex- 
traordinary to  the  point  of  abrogating  accus- 
tomed rules  of  conduct ;  yet  he  felt  a  certain 
delicacy  in  reading  a  woman's  letters  and  sur- 


The  Gateless  Barrier     153 

prising  the  secrets  of  her  heart.  But  as  he 
turned  them  over,  glancing  at  the  first  page 
of  each,  he  perceived  that  in  every  case  they 
were  addressed  to  himself;  for  at  the  top 
corner  of  each  was  written  —  "  To  Laurence 
Rivers,  Esq.,"  and  below  either  "  Dear  cousin  " 
or  "  Dear  love."  Then  the  irony  of  the  thing 
taking  him,  he  smiled  to  himself  and  said  : 

"  Oh,  well,  come  along,  surely  I  have  a 
right  to  the  smooth  as  well  as  the  rough.  If 
I  am  such  a  very  second-hand  affair  any  way, 
with  not  so  much  as  a  name  or  face  of  my 
own  to  be  proud  of,  I  '11  at  least  have  the 
advantages  of  my  disabilities.  I  will  know 
how  my  other,  first-hand,  self  was  made  love 
to  and  made  love." 

Yet  no  sooner  had  he  begun  to  read,  than 
he  became  aware  that  he  knew  that  already. 
For  as  he  perused  the  thin,  deeply-creased 
pages,  he  felt,  with  a  certainty  independent 
of  and  passing  all  proof,  that  he  had  read 
these  sweet  effusions,  these  innocent  chronicles 
of  home  life,  of  meetings  and  partings,  pretty 
pleasures  and  junketings,  not  once  but  many 
times  already.  He  remembered  them.  He 
could  almost  tell  what  words  would  meet  his 


154     The  Gateless  Barrier 

eye  as  he  straightened  and  turned  the  flutter- 
ing sheets  of  paper. 

"  — I  am  much  concerned,"  wrote  Agnes 
Rivers,  "  that  so  many  months  must  elapse 
before  I  can  again  receive  news  of  you.  I 
preach  Patience  to  myself;  but  that  virtue, 
though  a  good  servant,  is  but  a  sorrowful 
master.  I  am  pursued  by  fears  on  your 
account,  which  often  move  me  to  tears  when 
I  am  alone,  or  have  retired  to  my  chamber 
at  night.  You  will  reprove  my  feminine 
weakness  and  bid  me  take  courage.  Yet  I 
defy  you  to  maintain  such  fears  are  wholly 
misplaced,  in  face  of  the  wild  scenes  of  tem- 
pest and  of  battle  which  you  may  be  called 
upon  to  witness." 

Again  —  "  It  grieves  me  that  I  cannot  write 
to  you  of  my  affection  with  the  freedom  dic- 
tated by  my  heart.  But  my  means  of  com- 
municating with  you  amid  the  convulsions  of 
the  present  terrible  war  are  so  uncertain,  that 
I  constantly  tremble  lest  my  letters  should  fall 
into  other  hands  than  yours.  My  good  Mrs. 
Lambert,  who,  as  you  will  remember,  is  ever 
solicitous  for  the  maintenance  of  propriety, 
impresses  this  danger  upon  me,  and  urges  red- 


The  Gateless  Barrier     155 

cence  and  circumspection.  I  therefore  entreat 
you,  dear  Laurence,  not  to  measure  the  depth 
of  my  regard  by  my  present  expression  of  it. 
Recall,  rather,  all  the  happy  and  unclouded 
hours  we  have  enjoyed  together,  and  let  them 
speak  for  me." 

And  again — "  Your  brother  Dudley,  though, 
I  grieve  to  say,  not  less  harsh  and  imperious 
towards  others,  continues  to  treat  me  with  all 
brotherly  consideration  and  courtesy.  He  is 
very  thoughtful  of  the  improvement  of  my 
mind,  and  we  still  follow  our  studies  in  the 
Italian  and  Spanish  languages.  His  great 
knowledge  and  intelligence  are  of  incalculable 
advantage  to  me,  and  I  trust  that  I  prove  a 
docile,  if  not  a  very  brilliant,  pupil.  I  own 
my  thoughts  at  times  wander,  though  I  strive, 
in  gratitude  to  my  kind  preceptor,  to  keep 
them  fixed  upon  my  tasks.  Mrs.  Lambert  is, 
unfortunately,  as  much  alarmed  by  Dudley's 
opinions  and  conversation  as  ever.  I  could 
myself  wish  that  he  would  express  himself  with 
less  violence  on  the  subject  of  politics  and  of 
religion.  But  his  early  travels  in  the  unfortu- 
nate country  of  France,  and  his  intimate  asso- 
ciation with  Mr.  Robespierre  and  other  leaders 


156     The  Gateless  Barrier 

of  her  sanguinary  revolution,  have,  I  much  fear, 
permanently  warped  his  mind  and  prejudiced 
his  judgment.  Yesterday,  at  dinner,  he  en- 
tered into  a  discussion  with  our  new  rector, 
Mr.  Burkinshaw  —  a  scholarly  and  estimable 
person — upon  the  Rights  of  Man,  and  the 
nature  and  attributes  of  the  Deity,  asserting 
subversive  and  atheistical  views  with  so  much 
heat  and  intemperance  of  language,  that  Mrs. 
Lambert  fled  from  table  in  tears,  while  Mr. 
Burkinshaw  was,  I  could  not  but  see,  seriously 
offended  and  hurt. 

Once  more  —  "  The  weather  recently  has 
been  continuously  wet  and  stormy.  Dudley 
reports  great  destruction  of  timber  in  the  park. 
I  have  been  unable  to  leave  the  house,  and 
have  spent  many  hours  in  the  east  parlour, 
which  your  brother  kindly  bids  me  regard  as 
my  exclusive  property.  I  have  read  much,  I 
trust  with  profit.  Nor  have  I  neglected  my 
music,  though  the  melancholy  character  of  the 
season  and  ever-present  fears  for  your  safety 
have  rendered  me  but  a  joyless  performer. 
For  the  songs  you  most  admire,  I  cannot  find 
voice.  Indeed,  I  struggle  with  my  weakness, 
and  make  every  effort  to  present  a  serene  ex- 


The  Gateless  Barrier     157 

terior.  But  Memory  is  never,  perhaps,  a  more 
sorry  companion  than  when  she  speaks  of 
happy  scenes." 

And  finally  — "  My  own  dear  love,  your 
packet  from  Madalena  has  at  last  reached  us. 
What  can  I  say  to  you  save  that  my  heart 
dances  with  rapture  ?  I  cannot  sit  still,  but 
must  needs  run  from  place  to  place  for  very 
gladness.  Mrs.  Lambert  reproves  my  lack  of 
occupation.  But  she  is  mistaken.  I  am  fully 
occupied  in  reading  and  re-reading  your  letter, 
and  in  thanking  our  Merciful  Creator  for  this 
unhoped-for  assurance  of  your  safety.  I  have 
retired  to  the  stone  bench  beneath  the  lime- 
trees.  They  are  in  blossom  now,  and  their 
agreeable  fragrance  fills  the  air.  Here  I  write 
to  you,  while  the  sun  shines,  and  summer 
winds  play  lightly  with  the  leaves.  Do  you 
remember  our  sitting  here  the  evening  you 
stole  the  new  black  ribbon  from  my  embroid- 
ered bag  with  which  to  tie  your  hair  ?  Dear 
love,  now  I  am  convinced  that  you  will  be 
permitted  to  return  to  me,  and  that  we  shall 
add  yet  other  happy  hours  to  those  already 
treasured  in  our  hearts.  All  will  be  well. 
Nay  —  what  am  I  writing  ?  —  all  is  well 


J58     The  Gateless  Barrier 

already.  But  for  my  past  anxiety  and  all  my 
cruel  fears,  I  could  not  have  known  the 
rapture  of  the  present.  My  heart  overflows. 
I  would  not  have  one  unhappy  creature 
breathe  to-day.  I  have  emptied  my  purse  to 
a  beggar ;  and  have  expended  unpermitted 
dainties  upon  my  cage-birds,  and  Dudley's 
horses  and  dogs.  The  servants  smile  upon 
me,  rejoicing  in  my  joy.  Ah  !  my  love,  I  am 
half  ashamed  to  wear  so  gay  a  face.  Dudley 
has  withdrawn  to  the  library.  He  is  preoccu- 
pied and  silent.  Mrs.  Lambert,  for  all  her 
affection,  regards  me,  I  fear,  with  disapproval. 
But  how  can  I  feign  indifference  ?  You  are 
safe.  You  will  return  to  me.  In  six  months 
I  shall  attain  my  majority,  and  then  your 
brother  Dudley  can  no  longer,  as  my  guardian, 
legally  prohibit  our  marriage.  Of  that  dear 
union,  the  consummation  of  all  our  prayers  and 
hopes,  I  can  scarcely  dare  trust  myself  to  —  " 

And  here  Laurence  found  himself  forced  to 
cease  reading.  The  page  was  blotted,  the 
writing  obliterated,  by  rusty  stains  of  the 
nature  of  which  he  could  be  in  no  doubt. 
The  further  record  of  Agnes  Rivers's  pure 
passion  was  smothered  in  blood. 


The  Gateless  Barrier     159 

He  folded  the  letters  together,  tied  them 
up,  put  them  back  in  the  drawer,  closed  and 
locked  the  escritoire.  Well,  it  must  have  been 
worth  while  to  have  been  loved  like  that ! 
Did  women  ever  love  so  still,  he  wondered  ? 
He  opened  the  tall  French  window,  and  once 
again  went  out,  hatless,  into  the  driving  wet. 


XIV 


"  T^       ^T^"  ^vers  regrets  that  he  is  un- 
^L    /||  able    to     receive     you     to-night, 

V     [sir.' 

Laurence  looked  round  with 
something  approaching  a  start  at  Renshaw, 
the  butler,  whose  respectful,  colourless  voice 
broke  in  thus  upon  his  meditations.  The 
dining-room  struck  him  as  hotter  and  more 
oppressive  than  ever  —  by  contrast  probably 
with  the  buffeting  wind  and  driving  mist  in 
which  he  had  paced  the  lime-tree  walk  for 
a  good  hour  before  the  dressing-bell  rang. 
To-night  the  glass  bowl,  supported  by  the 
wanton,  dancing,  Etruscan  figures,  was  filled 
with  tuberoses  and  carmine-stained  Japanese 
lilies  ;  and  the  odour  given  off  by  these  acted 
on  the  young  man's  brain  as  opium  or  hashish 
might  have  acted  —  at  least  so  it  appeared  to 
him.  The  longer  he  meditated,  the  less  could 
he  distinguish  between  real  and  unreal,  fact 
and  phantasy.  The  best  accredited  articles 
of  his  moral  and  scientific  creed  had  passed 
into  the  region  of  the  open  question.  Specu- 
lation ran  riot,  all  the  accustomed  landmarks 


The  Gateless  Barrier     161 

of  his  thought  being  for  the  time  submerged  ; 
while  the  wildest  and  most  extravagant  ideas 
presented  themselves  as  within  the  range  of 
practical  action.  That  last  read  letter  of 
Agnes  Rivers,  and  his  own  resemblance  to 
her  lover,  had  inflamed  his  imagination  and 
his  heart.  Even  in  their  one  night's  inter- 
course, he  had  seen  intelligence,  purpose, 
gaiety,  return  to  her.  Now  the  daring 
conception  that  such  a  process  might  be 
continued,  until  his  sweet  and  mysterious 
companion  recovered  all  the  senses  and  attri- 
butes of  living  womanhood,  formed  itself 
in  his  mind.  Was  it  not  conceivable  that 
this  appearance  might  be  materialised,  so  that 
the  fair  and  gracious  spirit  should  once  again 
inhabit  a  human  body,  and  know  all  those 
dear  joys  of  love  and  motherhood  which  had 
been  —  by  some  evil  fortune,  some  catas- 
trophe, as  he  supposed  —  denied  to  her?  An 
immense  ambition  to  be  the  instrument  of 
this  restoration,  this  recovery,  grew  within 
him.  He  would  work  a  miracle,  he  would 
be  as  God,  clothing  the  soul  with  flesh, 
raising  the  dead.  And  this  by  no  exercise 
of  charlatanism,  by  no  dabbling  in  old- 


162     The  Gateless  Barrier 

world  superstitions,  or  dealings  in  folly  of 
White  Magic  or  of  Black ;  but  simply  by 
force  of  will,  by  the  action  of  mind  on  mind, 
by  the  incalculable  power  of  a  great  love.  It 
was  impious,  perhaps.  Morally  it  was  doubt- 
ful —  circumstanced  as  he,  Laurence,  was.  But 
it  was  the  most  magnificent  experiment  ever 
offered  either  to  man  of  science,  or  to  poet. 
Here  was  the  opportunity  he  had  desired,  had 
waited  for.  Here  was  his  chance  in  life  ! 

Then  the  butler's  voice  cut  in,  bringing 
him  down  to  the  everyday  level.  No  wonder 
he  looked  round  a  little  dazed. 

"  Mr.  Rivers  regrets  that  he  will  be  unable 
to  receive  you  to-night,  sir,"  it  said. 
And  Laurence  asked  in  answer  — 
"  Is  my  uncle  ill  ?     Is  he  worse  ?  " 
"  Mr.    Lowndes    has    brought   down    word 
that    he    is    tired,    sir.      Mr.    Armstrong,  the 
agent,    arrived    from    Scotland    this    afternoon 
while  you  were  out.     Mr.   Rivers   has  had  a 
long  interview  with  him  —  too  long  an  inter- 
view in  Mr.  Lowndes's  opinion." 

"  I  am  sorry,"  Laurence  said  absently.  He 
fell  to  caressing  his  wonderful  idea  again ,  but 
the  butler  waited. 


The  Gateless  Barrier     163 

"  Mr.  Armstrong  requested  me  to  add,  sir, 
that  if  convenient  to  you,  as  you  will  not  be 
engaged  with  Mr.  Rivers,  he  would  be  obliged 
if  you  would  allow  him  to  speak  to  you  in  the 
course  of  the  evening." 

"  Oh,  by  all  means,"  the  young  man  said, 
rising.  Then  he  added  —  "  Tell  Mr.  Arm- 
strong I  will  see  him  at  once.  Later  I  may 
be  occupied.  Where  ?  In  the  small  library 
—  yes." 

Laurence  betook  himself  to  the  library, 
prepared  to  be  bored  with  a  good  grace.  But 
he  might  have  spared  himself  such  prepara- 
tion, for  looking  on  the  new-comer,  he  liked 
him.  The  man,  in  age  about  sixty,  was  of 
barely  middle  height,  broad-shouldered  and 
lean  about  the  flanks.  He  carried  his  head 
forward,  stooping  slightly,  in  observant,  med- 
itative fashion.  He  was  slow  of  movement, 
calm,  one  capable  of  having  his  joke  and 
keeping  it  to  himself.  His  face  was  shaped 
like  a  kite,  remarkable  in  the  breadth  of  the 
lower  part  of  the  forehead  and  the  high  cheek- 
bones, narrowing  down  to  a  long,  flat  chin. 
The  upper  lip  was  long  too,  a  somewhat  prag- 
matical and  self-righteous  upper  lip.  While 


164     'The  Gateless  Barrier 

the  eyes,  set  far  apart  under  the  wide  brow, 
showed  a  clear,  kindly  blue  between  the 
narrow  lids  that  ended  in  a  fan-like  system  of 
wrinkles  at  the  outward  corners.  The  nose 
was  thin  and  straight  at  the  bridge,  with  wide- 
winged,  open  nostrils.  The  hair,  formerly 
sandy,  was  now  grey,  smooth  on  the  low 
dome  of  the  head,  and  thickly  waved  above 
and  behind  the  flat-set,  long-lobed  ears.  In 
all  a  shrewd,  humorous,  sober  countenance, 
ruddy,  moreover,  as  a  well-ripened,  autumn 
apple. 

At  first  the  agent's  talk  was  professional, 
dealing  in  matters  of  leases  and  rights-of-way ; 
of  draining  operations  and  the  breeding  and 
rearing  of  cattle ;  of  the  iniquitous  heaviness 
of  road  rates,  the  culture  of  hops,  and  the  cut- 
ting of  copses.  But  gradually  it  began  to 
take  on  a  more  personal  and  racial  character, 
since  the  Scotchman  is  yet  to  be  born  who  can 
go  very  long  in  conversation  without  blowing 
—  be  it  never  so  discreetly  —  the  trumpet  of 
his  own  unrivalled  nation.  So  he  fell  to  dilat- 
ing upon  the  superiority  of  the  Scotch  to  the 
English  system  of  national  education ;  upon 
the  indolence  and  general  incapacity  of  the 


The  Gateless  Barrier     165 

south-country  labourer;  upon  the  glaring 
futilities  and  imbecilities  of  district  and  parish 
councils ;  and  upon  the  congenital  incapacity 
of  the  Anglican  clergy  —  every  man-Jack  of 
them  —  to  deliver  a  sermon  which  would 
satisfy  the  intelligence  and  theological  acumen 
of  the  most  ordinary  congregation  north  of 
Tweed. 

Laurence  listened,  amused  by  the  exhibition 
of  the  speaker's  both  conscious  and  unconscious 
prejudices.  The  man  was  alive;  he  was  self- 
secure  and  dependable.  Laurence  saw  he 
would  be  a  pleasant  fellow  to  work  with.  And 
the  thought  of  that  work  began  to  occupy  his 
mind,  opium  dreams  giving  place  before  practi- 
cal interests  and  activities.  Laurence  talked  in 
his  turn,  showing  a  keenness  in  business  and 
a  knowledge  of  it,  which  Armstrong,  with 
pursed-up  lips  and  slow  noddings  of  the  head, 
evidently  relished. 

"Aweel,"  he  remarked  at  last,  after  the 
younger  man  had  given  a  particularly  lucid 
description  of  certain  labour-saving  farm-im- 
plements employed  in  the  wheat-growing 
states  of  Western  America,  —  "I  trust  it  is  no 
disrespect  to  an  old  master,  whom  it  pleases 


i66     The  Gateless  Barrier 

the  Almighty  to  withdraw  to  some  other 
sphere  of  usefulness  —  or  the  contrary,  for  it 
would  be  overbold  to  prophesy  largely  on  that 
subject  of  utility  in  the  case  of  your  uncle,  Mr. 
Rivers  —  it  is  no  disrespect,  I  say,  I  trust,  for 
a  man  who  has  served  such  an  one  for  over 
thirty  years  to  the  best  of  his  ability,  to  feel 
himself  not  indisposed  to  welcome  the  new 
master.  I  am  constrained  to  tell  you,  Mr. 
Laurence  Rivers,  that  I  looked  to  find  in  you 
some  flighty,  flimsy,  modern  run-about  of  a 
creature.  I  acknowledge  my  error  with  thanks- 
giving. The  impression  you  make  on  my 
mind  is  far  from  unfavourable." 

"  That 's  right,"  Laurence  said  genially.  "  I 
am  new  to  all  these  landed  property  concerns 
as  yet ;  but  I  expect  I  shall  be  able  to  get 
round  them  pretty  smartly  when  the  time 
comes." 

"  I  think  you  will,  I  think  you  will."  The 
agent's  blue  eyes  twinkled  with  a  certain  quiet 
humour,  upon  the  young  man,  from  between 
their  narrow  lids.  "Your  uncle,  I  must  admit, 
is  but  a  feeble  body  in  the  practical  domain. 
His  great  understanding  has,  so  to  speak,  not 
infrequently  got  between  his  legs  and  thrown 


"The  Gateless  Barrier     167 

him  down.  It  is  pitiful  to  see  any  person  so 
clever  that  he  cannot  condescend  to  take  advan- 
tage of  the  handsome  position  the  Almighty 
has  allowed  him.  I  own  there  have  been  times 
when  I  have  felt  rebellious  against  the  Lord's 
too  great  generosity  in  the  goods  of  this  world 
—  perishable,  I  know,  yet  deserving  of  con- 
sideration —  to  one  constitutionally  incapable 
of  drawing  full  profit  out  of  them.  Therefore 
I  perceive  with  thankfulness,  Mr.  Rivers,  you 
are  of  a  different  make." 

Laurence  leaned  back  in  his  chair,  and 
lighted  another  cigarette.  It  was  early  yet  — 
and  he  liked  the  man.  He  would  encourage 
him  to  talk  on  for  a  while  longer. 

"  Oh  yes,"  he  said,  "you  need  n't  be  worried 
under  that  head,  Armstrong.  I  've  the  reputa- 
tion of  by  no  means  quarrelling  with  my  bread 
and  butter,  or  despising  the  goodly  fruits  of 
this  admittedly  naughty  world,  in  whatever 
form  I  find  them." 

"  Temperance  is  a  canny  virtue ;  and  I  would 
recommend  moderation  in  all  things,  after  the 
teaching  of  the  Apostle  Paul.  Yet  I  am  glad 
to  find,  Mr.  Rivers,  you  have  your  feet  upon 
the  floor.  It  will  be  well  for  your  estates,  at 


i68     The  Gateless  Barrier 

the  preservation  and  improvement  of  which  I 
and  my  kin  have  laboured  —  not  unfaithfully 
—  for  three  generations." 

"  So  long  as  that  ?  "  the  young  man  ejacu- 
lated. The  statement  indirectly  suggested  a 
former  strain  of  thought. 

"Yes,  for  three  generations  —  and  not 
without  trials.  For  I  would  have  you  under- 
stand that  a  certain  impracticability  runs 
in  your  family,  Mr.  Rivers  —  a  perversity, 
not  sinful  altogether,  but  very  wearing  to 
those  that  have  your  temporal  interests  at 
heart." 

Gently  Laurence  blew  a  little  cloud  out  of 
his  nostrils,  and  watched  it  float  upward  across 
the  dark,  warm-hued  landscape  by  Nicholas 
Poussin  hanging  over  the  chimney-piece. 
Against  the  windows  the  rain  beat,  while  the 
heavy  folds  of  the  crimson,  damask  curtains, 
covering  them,  swayed  just  perceptibly  in  the 
draught. 

"  I  can  believe  it,"  he  said.  "  My  people 
have  been  afflicted  with  ideas  ;  and  ideas  play 
the  very  mischief  with  business,  don't  they, 
Armstrong?  " 

"In  their  degree,  and  subject  to  a  thrifty 


The  Gateless  Barrier     169 

discretion  in  their  application,  I  would  not 
wholly  condemn  them,"  the  agent  replied. 
His  shrewd  glance  dwelt  on  the  younger  man 
with  undisguised  pleasure.  He  was  so  hand- 
some, well  bred,  well  made,  and  apparently 
so  able  a  fellow.  — "  But  ideas  are  kittle 
cattle,  Mr.  Rivers,"  he  continued,  "  needing 
strenuous  supervision  if  you  would  not  have 
them  break  out  of  pasture  and  run  mad, 
sairly  to  the  dislocation  of  all  legitimate  traffic. 
And  it  has  been  the  affliction  of  more  than 
one  member  of  your  family  to  let  his  ideas 
run  abroad  to  a  length  of  pernicious  extrava- 
gance. For  instance,  my  grandfather,  a  person 
of  capacity  and  circumspection  beyond  the 
average,  was  factor  to  your  great  uncle,  Mr. 
Dudley  Rivers,  and  —  " 

Laurence  kept  his  eyes  fixed  on  the  last 
blue  of  the  little  smoke-cloud  curling  about 
the  intricate  foliations  of  the  upper  corner 
of  the  picture  frame ;  yet  his  voice  had  a 
certain  quickness  and  vibration  in  it  as  he 
exclaimed  — 

c  Ah  !  Dudley  Rivers  —  yes.  Well,  how 
about  him,  Armstrong  ?  " 

'  D 

"  Not  much   good,  not  much  good.     Like 


170     The  Gateless  Barrier 

the  foolish  body  recorded  by  the  Psalmist, 
he  had  '  said  in  his  heart,  There  is  no  God.' 
And  having  made  that  very  impious  and  lying 
observation,  and  so  disposed  of  the  Deity,  he 
proceeded  to  supersede  the  latter  in  his  own 
person,  and  attempt  the  reorganisation  of 
society  according  to  his  own  hare-brained 
fancies.  Regarding  his  deliverance  from  dan- 
gerous delusions  my  grandfather  could  do 
but  little,  being  himself  a  godly  man,  and 
holding  firmly  by  the  doctrine  of  Election. 
If  the  poor  misguided  creature  would  go  to 
the  devil,  Mr.  Rivers,  it  was  —  so  my  grand- 
father held  —  because  to  the  devil  he  was 
righteously  foredoomed  and  predestined  to 
go.  And  so  my  grandfather,  relieved  of  all 
responsibility  in  that  respect,  felt  free  to 
apply  the  whole  of  his  abilities  to  saving  the 
poor,  erring  person's  treasure  on  earth,  since 
it  was  manifestly  not  the  intention  of  Provi- 
dence that  he  should  inherit  any  treasure  in 
heaven.  He  had  long  taken  entire  charge 
of  those  estates  in  the  county  of  Fife,  which 
belonged  to  Mr.  Dudley's  young  cousin  and 
ward,  Miss  Agnes  Rivers  — " 

"  Ah  !  "   Laurence  ejaculated  softly. 


The  Gateless  Barrier      171 

"  And  many  a  time  did  my  grandfather 
undertake  the  tedious  journey  down  here,  from 
the  north,  to  lend  a  seasonable  hand  in  re- 
straining Mr.  Dudley  from  committing  some 
ruinous  foolishness  in  respect  of  Miss  Agnes, 
or  of  his  own  southern  property.  For  Mr. 
Dudley  was  just  completely  saturated  with 
pernicious  opinions  derived  from  the  writings 
of  Rousseau,  and  Tom  Paine,  and  other  such 
seditious  persons ;  and  Satan  entering  into 
him  at  intervals,  and  blinding  his  small  sur- 
viving modicum  of  reason,  he  proposed  to 
reduce  them  to  practice  —  poor,  demented 
body." 

"Yes,"  Laurence  said,  "he  had  graduated 
in  a  rather  impossible  school,  no  doubt.  But 
—  but  —  Armstrong,  what  about  his  private 
life  —  his  morals  ?  " 

"  Blameless  —  blameless  —  more  's  the  pity, 
since  his  virtues  could  but  come  under  the 
head  of  works  of  supererogation  —  so  my 
grandfather  held  —  profitless  alike  in  this 
world  and  in  the  next.  Indeed,  though  a 
strict  man  himself,  I  am  constrained  to  believe 
he  would  have  experienced  relief  in  seeing 
Mr.  Dudley  enjoy  the  pleasures  of  sin  — 


"The  Gateless  Barrier 


they  are  real,  very  real  while  they  last,  un- 
fortunately —  for  a  season." 

Laurence  flung  away  the  stump  of  his 
cigarette,  and  turned  sideways  in  his  chair. 

"  Now,  as  we  're  on  the  subject,"  he  said, 
"  and  as  you  seem  to  know  all  about  these 
people  of  mine,  what  sort  of  fellow  was  Dud- 
ley's younger  brother,  my  namesake,  Lau- 
rence Rivers  ?  " 

"  Weel,  I  have  reason  to  believe  he  was  a 
very  promising  sprig  —  a  likely  young  gen- 
tleman, high-spirited,  clean-living,  and  not 
without  a  show  of  capacity  for  affairs.  My 
grandparents,  both  of  them,  entertained  a  warm 
affection  for  him."  —  The  man  paused  in  his 
slow  sing-song  talk,  smiling.  —  "I  should  sur- 
mise him  to  have  been  much  such  a  person  as 
yourself,  Mr.  Rivers,  with  a  natural  gift  of 
winning  the  hearts  of  those  brought  into  con- 
tact with  him.  But  he  fell  at  Trafalgar,  shot 
through  the  lungs,  as  no  doubt  you  have 
heard  —  cut  off  before  he  had  opportunity  to 
acquaint  the  world  with  the  worth  of  the 
talents  that  might  reside  in  him.  It  was  a 
grievous  misfortune,  for  his  death  took  place 
but  three  months  before  the  day  appointed 


The  Gateless  Barrier     173 

for  his  and  his  cousin's  marriage.  And  often, 
as  a  soft-hearted  bit  of  a  laddie,  I  have  cried 
to  hear  my  grandmother  tell  of  the  coming  of 
the  awful  news  and  the  grief  of  the  poor 
young  lady.  She  was  a  gracious,  winsome 
thing,  as  bright  as  a  sunbeam  on  a  running 
brook ;  very  pious,  too,  and  charitable,  so 
that  no  mortal  soul  could  but  wish  her  well 
that  looked  on  her.  But  she  was  shivered 
by  the  stroke  of  her  sorrow,  as  you  might 
shiver  some  fragile  trifle  of  an  ornament  with 
a  careless  blow.  She  would  not  eat  or  speak 
for  many  days,  and  her  sleep*  departed  from 
her.  And,  indeed,  during  the  few  months  of 
life  that  remained  to  her  she  rarely  uttered  a 
word.  Her  poor  bits  of  wits  seemed  to  drain 
out  of  her  with  her  tears,  for  all  that  she  was 
highly  educated,  and  an  accomplished  musician 
and  sweet  singer. 

Laurence  had  risen  to  his  feet.  He  stood 
with  his  back  to  the  fire,  his  hands  behind 
him,  and  his  head  bent. 

"  Poor  child  !  "  he  said  softly.  "  Well,  she 
knew  how  to  love,  anyway." 

"  No  woman  better ;  but  I  am  thinking, 
Mr.  Rivers,  she  introduced  into  her  affections 


174     The  Gateless  Barrier 

a  touch  of  that  same  extravagance  which  per- 
tains to  so  many  members  of  your  family. 
For  my  grandmother  used  to  tell  me  that, 
though  altogether  gentle  and  docile,  she 
studied  nothing  but  to  turn  over  her  dead 
love's  letters,  and  play  with  the  various  gifts 
he  had  bestowed  upon  her,  as  a  little  lass 
plays  with  its  puppets  and  toys.  It  was  the 
pitifulest  spectacle  under  the  dome  of  the 
sky,  that  of  her  affliction ;  and  Mr.  Dudley, 
notwithstanding  his  reprehensible  opinions  and 
infamous  heresies,  watched  over  her  like  a 
father.  His  patience  knew  no  bounds,  poor 
body.  He  would  have  laid  himself  down  as 
the  ground  for  her  to  walk  on,  could  that 
have  accelerated  her  recovery.  He  spared 
no  expense  of  doctors,  both  foreign  and  Eng- 
lish, to  prescribe  for  her ;  and  carried  her 
away  to  Bath,  by  their  advice,  to  drink  the 
waters  there.  But  all  the  medicinal  waters  that 
ever  welled  up  through  the  length  and  breadth 
of  God  Almighty's  curious  earth  are  powerless 
to  ease  the  ache  of  a  broken  heart.  She  wanted 
but  one  thing,  and  that  no  mortal  soul  could 
give  her.  And  so,  poor,  white  lily  of  a  thing, 
she  just  sickened,  and  faded,  and  died." 


The  Gafe/ess  Barrier     175 

Laurence  stood  very  still,  looking  down  at 
the  hearthrug  between  his  feet,  while  the  rain 
beat  against  the  windows.  The  agent  watched 
him  for  a  little  space,  and  then  rose,  a  trifle 
stiffly  and  carefully,  from  his  chair. 

"  I  am  keeping  you  over  long  with  my 
family  histories,  Mr.  Rivers,"  he  said.  "  But 
it  comes  to  me  that  we  are  about  to  see  great 
changes  in  this  place  very  speedily ;  and  our 
conversation  to-night  has  been  a  valediction  to 
the  old  dynasty  and  a  recognition  of  the  new. 
There  has  been  no  lady  at  Stoke  Rivers  since 
Miss  Agnes  died,  and  you,  so  I  learn,  are  a 
married  man." 

Laurence  left  his  contemplation  of  the 
hearthrug,  and  drew  himself  up  rather 
sharply. 

"Yes,"  he  said,  "  my  wife  is  much  interested 
in  the  prospect  of  this  English  property." 

He  turned  his  back,  and  stared  into  the 
fire. 

"  Look  here,  Armstrong,"  he  said,  "  where 
was  she  —  Agnes  Rivers,  I  mean  —  where 

was  she  buried  ?  " 

/ 

A  singularly  acute  expression  came  over  the 
agent's  countenance.  He  looked  hard  at  the 


176     'The  Gateless  Barrier 

young  man,  but  the  latter  did  not  move  or 
turn  his  head.  The  wind,  increasing  in  force 
broke,  as  in  great  waves,  against  the  house 
front  and  the  curtains  swayed  sullenly  in  the 
draught.  Armstrong  cleared  his  throat. 

"I  am  thinking  it's  a  calamitous  night  for 
too  many  poor  folks  at  sea,"  he  remarked ; 
and  then  added  :  —  "  Buried  ?  Weel,  pre- 
sumably at  Bath,  where  she  died,  Mr.  Rivers. 
A  grand  funeral  took  place  there,  to  my 
grandfather's  knowledge,  for  he  was  called 
upon  to  journey  the  whole  long  way  from 
Cupar  to  attend  it,  and  the  snow  lay  some 
foot  deep  in  the  North.  A  grand  funeral, 
truly,  in  appearance,  with  black  horses,  and 
plumes,  and  lumbering  black  coaches,  and  all 
signs  of  respect  and  customary  outward  mani- 
festations of  woe." 

Still  Laurence  did  not  move ;  but  the  gusty 
wind  was  so  loud  that  it  obliged  him  to  raise 
his  voice  in  asking  — 

"Well,  well,  if  there  was  all  this  display 
about  the  funeral,  why  •presumably  then  ? " 

"  Because  I  am  constrained  to  admit  that  a 
certain  mystery  surrounded  that  transaction. 
My  grandparents  would  never  speak  directly 


The  Gateless  Barrier     177 

of  it,  being  prudent  persons,  and  knowing, 
conceivably,  more  than  it  was  becoming  for 
them  to  tell.  But  there  were  tongues  that 
said,  Mr.  Rivers,  that  no  sweet  lassie's  corpse 
lay  in  that  coffin ;  but  only  books,  and  cast 
clothes,  and  bricks,  and  rubbish,  to  make  up 
the  weight." 

Laurence  turned  round  suddenly.  His  face 
was  keen,  his  eyes  alight. 

"  But  why  ?  "  he  asked. 

"  Partly,  I  surmise,  on  account  of  Mr. 
Dudley's  atheistical  views,  which  caused  him 
to  hate  and  scorn  all  decent  Christian  rites  and 
ceremonies.  And  partly  because  of  the  feel- 
ings he  entertained  towards  his  cousin  —  for  it 

o 

was  well  known  she  was  the  only  human  crea- 
ture that  had  ever  moved  him  to  love  —  it  was 
apprehended  he  refused  to  part  with  her  body 
even  in  death. 

For  a  few  moments  the  two  men  looked 
hard  at  each  other. 

"  And  what  then  ?  "  Laurence  demanded. 
Armstrong  raised  his  hands,  almost  as  in  re- 
pudiation of  his  own  thought. 

"  The  Lord  only  knows,"  he  said.  "  As  the 
poet  says,  f  There  are  more  things  in  heaven 


18 


178     The  Gate/ess  Barrier 

and  earth  than  are  dreamed  of  in  our  philos- 
ophy.' But  I,  being  a  practical  man,  do  not 
concern  myself  with  such,  Mr.  Rivers.  I 
would  not  learn  more  of  hidden  matters  than 
is  strictly  necessary  to  salvation.  If  it  is  the 
intention  of  the  Deity  that  further  revelation 
of  laws,  either  natural  or  spiritual,  should  be 
granted  us,  such  revelation  will,  without  doubt, 
come  at  the  time  appointed.  And  so  I,  per- 
sonally, would  not  force  the  hand  of  Providence 
or  be  over  forward  in  pushing  myself  into  its 
secret  counsels." 

He  paused,  regarding  the  younger  man  with 
much  friendliness  and  some  anxiety.  But 
Laurence  did  not  speak.  He  merely  smiled, 
holding  out  his  hand. 

"  Aweel,  good  night  to  you  then,  Mr. 
Rivers,"  the  agent  said,  taking  the  outstretched 
hand  and  holding  it  awhile.  —  "I  must  repeat, 
I  am  glad  to  carry  away  so  favourable  an 
impression  of  our  first  meeting.  But,  as  a 
word  at  parting  having  in  mind  the  tendencies 
of  your  family  constitution,  I  would  earnestly 
commend  to  you  those  canny  virtues,  modera- 
tion and  temperance,  in  all  your  undertakings. 
• —  I  will  be  resident  here  for  the  coming  week, 


The  Gate/ess  Barrier     179 

or  longer  should  a  more  protracted  stay  be 
incumbent  on  me,  in  the  interests  of  your 
affairs  or  your  uncle's.  My  sons  are  good, 
steady  lads,  and  will  mind  our  northern  busi- 
ness for  me  —  a  business  not  unprosperous  or 
decreasing.  And  so  you  can  notify  me  at  any 
time  should  you  feel  an  inclination  to  acquaint 
yourself  further  with  the  workings  of  this 
estate,  or  other  items  of  poor  Mr.  Rivers's  by 
no  means  inconsiderable  property." 


XV 

FOR  some  minutes  Laurence  remained 
in  the  same  position  before  the  library 
fireplace,  while  the  rush  and  wail  of  the 
storm  without  offered  marked  contrast 
to  the  silence  and  close  warmth  reigning  within. 
He  knew  all  the  facts  of  the  case  now,  as  far 
as  they  were  attainable  by  tradition.  They 
proved  to  be  very  simple ;  but,  as  he  reflected, 
the  simplicity  of  the  symbol  by  no  means 
invalidates  the  profound  character  of  the 
mystery  of  which  it  may  be  the  outward  and 
visible  sign.  Nay,  the  very  simplicity,  the 
tender,  human  pathos,  of  this  story  of  love  and 
sorrow,  only  engaged  his  heart  and  provoked 
his  enterprise  the  more.  Counsels  of  self- 
saving  moderation  he  waved  aside  with  a 
smile.  Of  danger,  material,  moral,  or  spiritual, 
he  was  defiant.  With  the  Veil  of  I  sis  there, 
visibly  confronting  him  and  inviting  —  in 
gentlest,  most  confiding  fashion  —  his  hand 
to  lift  it,  would  it  not  be  unpardonably  poor- 
spirited,  callous,  and  unfaithful  to  draw  back  ? 
But  Virginia  ?  Laurence  moved  impatiently 
from  his  place.  He  wished  to  goodness  Arm- 


The  Gateless  Barrier     181 

strong  had  not  referred  to  Virginia,  or  rather 
to  that  circumscription  of  his  personal  liberty 
which  Virginia  presented  —  to  his  marriage,  in 
short !  He  was  very  fond  of  her.  Of  course, 
he  was  very  fond  of  her  —  not  for  a  mo- 
ment did  he  doubt  that.  But  must  it  be  a 
matter  of  primary  duty  and  honour  that  he 
should  relinquish  the  part  of  hero  in  this  piece 
—  this  noble  and  enthralling  piece,  which 
made  vibrant  his  whole  being,  and  stirred  the 
finest  of  him  into  activity  —  simply  because 
Virginia's  name  did  not  happen  to  be  in  the 
bill  ?  Marriage  came  perilously  near  a  dis- 
aster if  it  clipped  your  wings  as  much  as  all 
that !  And  he  would,  indeed,  be  a  bigoted 
moralist  who  should  maintain  that  no  circum- 
stances can  be  so  extraordinary,  no  opportuni- 
ties of  knowledge  or  spiritual  advancement  so 
rare,  that  they  justify  a  neglect  of  conventional 
rules  of  conduct,  or  permit  the  relegation  of 
ordinary  obligations  — for  a  time  at  least  —  to 
the  second  place  ! 

Thus  did  the  young  man  argue  —  ambi- 
tion, chivalry,  and  those  hereditary  tendencies 
towards  a  rather  violent  reduction  of  theory  to 
practice  against  which  Jie  had  so  lately  been 


i82     The  Gateless  Barrier 

warned,  all  conspiring  to  one  result.  And  so, 
at  last,  his  head  erect,  and  —  though  he  knew 
it  not — that  air  of  assured  conquest  about 
him  which  had  sat  so  charmingly  upon  his 
namesake  —  perhaps  his  rival  —  the  Laurence 
Rivers  of  the  Cosway  miniature,  he  swung 
down  the  still,  crimson-carpeted  corridor, 
pulled  the  stiff  tapestry  curtain  forward,  passed 
behind  it,  and  entered  the  room  beyond.  He 
laughed  a  little  to  himself,  he  was  all  of  a 
white  heat,  he  would  be  as  the  Gods,  working 
miracles,  righting  wrong,  conquering  death. 

Sharp  disappointment  awaited  him.  The 
yellow  drawing-room  was  brilliantly  lighted. 
The  atmosphere  of  it  was  fresh,  almost  to  the 
point  of  chill.  The  miniatures  lay  side  by  side 
upon  the  escritoire,  where  he  had  placed  them 
some  four  or  five  hours  earlier  ;  but  his  sweet 
fairy-lady  was  not  there  to  receive  him.  The 
room  was  vacant  of  all  human,  all  visible,  pres- 
ence save  his  own. 

The  hours  which  followed  were  among  the 
most  poignant  that  Laurence  had  ever  experi- 
enced. He  had  made  so  certain  that  he 
needed  but  to  open  that  door  to  regain  the 
unreal  world,  yet  world  — -  as  he  believed  —  of 


The  Gateless  Barrier     183 

profoundest  reality,  which  enchanted,  while  it 
baffled  and  perplexed  him.  He  found  himself 
compelled  to  admit,  moreover,  not  without  a 
sense  of  humiliation,  that  his  attitude  was  not 
exclusively  pathological  or  scientific.  A  good 
deal  of  the  natural  man,  and  the  natural  man's 
affections  and  vanities,  entered  into  it.  He 
craved  once  again  to  see  that  slender,  flitting 
figure,  to  feel  the  vibration  of  that  otherwise 
impalpable  hand,  to  read  the  trust  and  exquis- 
ite sympathy  of  those  lovely  eyes  ;  he  craved 
again  to  be  aware  of  the  fervour  of  his  own 
eloquence,  the  rush  and  spring  of  his  own 
thought.  Moreover,  he  felt  jealous,  absurdly 
but  increasingly  jealous,  of  that  other  Laurence 
Rivers,  of  whom,  for  all  his  vitality  and  im- 
mediate consciousness  of  living  energy  and 
active  will,  he  seemed  to  be  but  a  second 
edition.  The  man  had  forestalled  him  in  face 
and  semblance,  forestalled  him  too  in  the 
heart  of  the  woman  it  would  be  —  it  was,  he 
feared  —  only  too  easy  for  him  to  love. 

And  so  he  wandered  aimlessly,  restlessly 
about  the  bright,  empty  room,  almost  as  his 
sweet  rose-clad  lady  had  wandered  on  the  night 
he  first  met  her,  searching,  searching  for  some 


184     The  Gateless  Barrier 

lost  good  ;  while,  as  time  lengthened  and  his 
nerves  grew  strained  by  impatient  waiting  and 
want  of  sleep,  fears  that  by  his  own  action  he 
had  procured  this  disappointment  began  to 
assail  him.  He  was  always  over-confident, 
blundering  from  too  great  self-belief.  For 
might  it  not  be  that  in  opening  her  little 
treasure-chest,  in  touching  those  objects  so 
dear  to  her  dead  fingers  and  dead  eyes,  in 
reading  her  letters — nay,  in  striving  to  ap- 
proach her  and  establish  relations  with  her  at 
all  —  he  had  outraged  her  delicacy,  had,  in  a 
sense,  assaulted  her  soul,  had  been  guilty  of 
spiritual  insult,  as  in  grosser,  material  existence 
a  man  might  assault  or  insult  a  woman's 
person  ?  Had  he,  unwittingly,  transgressed 
some  law  obtaining  in  the  world  of  spirits,  in 
the  state  of  being  which  lies  outside  and 
beyond  the  Gates  of  Death,  and  of  which 
human  beings,  bound  by  the  conditions  of 
their  earthly  environment,  have  as  yet  no 
cognisance? — Why  should  not  the  mind  and 
heart  be  sublimated  to  as  exquisite  a  fineness 
of  texture,  in  her  case,  as  the  body  had  been  ? 
This  idea  of  possible  outrage,  of  unwitting 
grossness  towards  her,  was  horrible  to  Lau- 


The  Gateless  Barrier     185 

rence.  It  stabbed  him  with  shame,  and  pro- 
voked in  him  a  passionate  desire  for  absolution. 
If  she  would  only  come  —  only  come,  that  he 
might  implore  her  pardon,  gain  forgiveness,  or 
—  still  better — receive  comfortable  assurance 
that  he  had  not  sinned  ! 

His  restless  wanderings  brought  him  at 
length  to  the  bay-window,  and  he  looked  out 
into  the  night.  The  storm  had  not  abated. 
Dimly  he  could  perceive,  in  the  light  stream- 
ing outward  from  the  window,  the  rain-washed 
steps,  the  pale  balustrades  and  statues  of  the 
garden ;  the  near  cypresses,  too,  bowed  and 
straining  in  the  gale  which  shrieked  across 
the  open  lawns  and  bellowed  hoarsely  in  the 
woodland  like  some  fierce  beast  let  loose. 
And  Laurence,  viewing  this  tumult  and  listen- 
ing to  it,  suffered  further  humiliation.  He 
became  but  a  small  thing  in  his  own  estima- 
tion, weak,  futile,  incapable.  For  to  what, 
after  all,  did  his  force  of  will  and  power  of 
compelling  events  amount  ?  He  thought  of 
Armstrong,  the  level-headed  and  circumspect 
Scotch  agent ;  of  his  uncle,  dignified,  and  even 
in  mortal  illness  faithful  to  the  clear  purposes 
of  his  long  life.  He  thought  of  Virginia, 


i86      "The  Gateless  Barrier 

strong  in  virtue  of  her  very  limitations,  glitter- 
ing as  a  well-cut  jewel,  concrete,  complete.  All 
these  persons  occupied  a  definite  place,  served, 
in  their  degree,  a  definite  end.  Whereas,  for 
himself,  was  he  not  the  veriest  sport  of  nature 
and  of  circumstance,  endowed  with  just  suffi- 
cient wit,  sufficient  talent,  to  court  failure  in 
any  and  every  direction  ?  His  initiative,  that 
had  lately  showed  god-like,  now  shrivelled  to 
microscopic  proportions  ;  while  a  further  un- 
welcome question  presented  itself.  For  had 
the  gracious  spectre  —  he  no  longer  quarrelled 
with  that  definition  —  lived,  as  he  had  fondly 
supposed,  through  his  life,  regained  reason 
and  glad,  human  sympathy  through  the  influ- 
ence of  his  will,  or  had  the  case,  in  very  truth, 
been  precisely  the  reverse  ?  Had  not  she 
been  the  active,  he  the  merely  passive  principle  ? 
Had  he  not  reached  a  higher  development,  and 
gloried  —  for  a  little  space  —  in  conscious  pos- 
session of  genius,  had  he  not  lived,  in  short, 
through  her  —  and  this  not  by  exercise  of  direct 
intention  on  her  part,  but  merely  in  obedience  to 
the  might  of  her  love  for  another  man  —  a  man 
long  dead,  but  whose  name  he  chanced  to  bear, 
and  whose  appearance  he  chanced  to  resemble  ? 


'The  Gateless  Barrier     187 

And  thereupon  a  hideous  persuasion  of  his 
own  nullity  and  emptiness  took  hold  of  Lau- 
rence. Individuality  fled  away,  disintegrated, 
dissolved,  and  was  not.  The  component 
parts  of  his  physical  being  returned  to  their 
original  elements  —  flesh  to  earth,  gases  to  air, 
heat  to  fire,  blood  to  water.  While  all  the 
qualities  of  his  mind,  his  tastes  and  affections, 
suffered  like  dispersal,  being  claimed  and 
absorbed  by  the  members  of  those  many 
generations,  whose  earthly  existence  had  con- 
tributed to  the  eventual  production  of  his 
own.  And  the  terror  of  this  was  augmented, 
in  that,  although  every  atom  of  his  being  was 
thus  scattered  and  appropriated,  every  small- 
est fraction  of  that  which  had  gone  to  compose 
his  personality  was  dispersed,  yet  annihilation 
of  thought  did  not  follow.  He  was  reduced 
to  absolute  nothingness ;  but  knowledge  of 
disintegration,  knowledge  of  loss,  knowledge 
—  rebellious  and  despairing  —  of  that  same 
nothingness  remained. 

Appalled,  with  the  instinct  of  flight  upon 
him  as  from  some  menacing  and  immeasur- 
able danger,  Laurence  turned  and  groped  his 
way  back  —  as  a  blind  man  gropes  —  into  the 


i88     The  Gateless  Barrier 

centre  of  the  brightly  lighted  room.  The 
persuasion  of  his  own  nothingness  seemed  to 
extend  itself  to  his  surroundings.  All  partook 
of  the  nature  of  illusion,  from  which  sense 
of  sight  and  touch  alike  seemed  powerless  to 
redeem  them.  And  this  begot  in  the  young 
man  an  immense  desolation  and  a  correspond- 
ing need  of  comfort  and  of  quick  human 
sympathy.  Involuntarily,  in  his  extremity, 
his  thought  fixed  itself,  stayed  itself,  upon 
Agnes  Rivers.  Ah  !  if  she  would  but  show 
herself — she,  his  well-beloved  fairy-lady  — 
he  was  convinced  peace  and  clear-seeing  would 
follow  in  her  train,  that  this  terror  of  nothing- 
ness would  depart,  and  that  sanely,  calmlys 
he  should  enter  into  possession  of  himself 
once  more ! 

And  then,  presently,  as  he  moved  to  and 
fro  in  restless  search  for  her,  it  appeared  to 
him  that  a  rose-red  gleam  of  silk,  a  just  per- 
ceptible whiteness  of  muslin  and  lace,  the 
faintest  vision  of  a  vision  of  her  sweet  and 
lovely  face,  moved  beside  him  as  he  moved. 
It  was  as  though  an  indefinable  tenderness 
yearned  towards  him  from  out  some  impassa- 
ble distance,  striving  to  declare  itself,  to  make 


The  Gateless  Barrier     189 

itself  seen  and  felt,  yet  without  force  to  master 
some  opposing  influence  and  accomplish  its 
object.  And  this  awoke  in  Laurence  not 
only  an  answering  tenderness,  but  an  answer- 
ing struggle.  He  stood  quite  still,  yet  with 
every  nerve,  every  faculty  strained  to  attain 
and  overcome.  He  felt  braced  by  a  sudden 
exhilaration  of  battle.  Silently,  fiercely,  he 
fought  with  some  awful,  unseen  enemy,  — 
with  dimly  apprehended  powers  of  time  and 
place,  of  death,  of  things  spiritual  and  things 
material,  which  intervened  between  him  and 
the  love  which  sought  to  reach  him.  Never 
had  he  desired  anything  as  he  desired  this 
love.  His  individuality  was  actual  enough 
now  ;  and  his  whole  body  ached  with  the 
effort  to  penetrate  that  resistant  medium,  to 
be  face  to  face  with  that  love,  and  look  on  it, 
and  so  doing  to  read  the  riddle  both  of  his 
future  and  his  past. 

But  when  the  warfare  was  at  its  height,  and 
the  unseen  enemy  seemed  to  yield  a  little, 
while  the  slender  form  of  his  rose-clad  lady 
grew  more  distinct  to  Laurence's  eyes,  un- 
accustomed noise  and  confusion  arose  within 
the  dead-quiet  house.  Doors  opened  and 


190     "The  Gateless  Barrier 

slammed,  as  with  the  hurry  of  panic.  Men's 
footsteps  echoed  imperatively  down  the  corri- 
dors and  upon  the  stairs.  —  Another  moment 
and  he  would  overcome  all  resistance,  and  his 
dear  companion  would  stand  before  him, 
smiling,  gracious,  full  of  consolation  and  of 
help  ;  but  just  then  voices  were  raised  in  quick 
discussion  without.  Suddenly  the  door  was 
thrown  open.  Upon  the  threshold  was  Ren- 
shaw  the  butler,  bereft  of  his  usual  correctness 
of  demeanour,  his  eyes  starting,  his  skin 
mottled  with  purple  stains.  Behind  him 
stood  Watkins  holding  back  the  leather-lined 
curtain  to  the  utmost  of  its  length,  thereby 
disclosing  a  triangular  vista  of  dark-panelled 
passage  and  the  proud  heads  and  arrogant, 
impassive  faces  of  the  rulers  of  Imperial 
Rome. 

Evidently  both  men  dreaded  to  venture  one 
step  further  into  the  room. 

"  Will  you  please  to  come  at  once,  sir," 
Renshaw  called  hoarsely.  "  Excuse  me,  sir, 
you  are  wanted.  Mr.  Rivers  is  very  ill.  He 
has  asked  for  you.  Mr.  Lowndes  fears  he  is 
dying." 


1 


XVI 

agitation  pervading  the  house 
was  sinister.  Laurence  felt  as  though 
witnessing  the  convulsions  of  some 
human  body,  seen  only  heretofore 
amid  the  restraints  and  graceful  amenities  of 
society ;  but  now  abandoned  and  indecently 
torn  in  its  last  agony.  If  indeed  Mr.  Rivers 
was  dying,  his  soul  was  not  merely  quitting 
its  fragile,  fleshly  tabernacle ;  but  was  also, 
very  sensibly,  quitting  this  larger  tabernacle  of 
house  and  household  which  it  had  informed 
through  a  long  course  of  years,  and  moulded 
to  express  its  tastes,  flatter  its  idiosyncrasies, 
and  forestall  its  every  wish.  It  was  fitting, 
therefore,  though  fearful,  that  this  outer  en- 
velope of  the  owner's  life  should  be  shaken, 
and  lose  its  habitual  immutability  and  imper- 
vious calm ;  while  his  well-drilled  servants, 
usually  obedient  as  machines  to  the  direction 
of  his  hand,  ran  distracted,  scared  and  helpless 
as  a  flock  of  frightened  sheep. 

The  men  hurried  aimlessly,  spoke  in 
whispers.  Members  of  the  establishment 
with  whom  Laurence  was  unacquainted  invaded 


i92     The  Gate/ess  Barrier 

the  corridor  from  the  direction  of  the  offices. 
At  the  foot  of  the  staircase  were  grouped  the 
stout,  French  chef^  in  spotless,  linen  cap  and 
jacket,  his  attendant  scullions,  and  a  couple  of 
men  arrayed  in  long,  green  baize  aprons  and 
black,  calico  blouses,  the  full  sleeves  of  which 
buttoned  tight  around  the  wrist.  The  coach- 
man was  there  too,  a  stable  helper,  and  the 
groom  who  had  accompanied  Laurence  on  his 
first  visit  to  Bishop's  Pudbury.  All  these 
persons  were  well  on  in  middle  life,  some  old, 
white-haired,  and  bent.  All  appeared  deeply 
moved,  an  inarticulate  confusion  in  their  looks, 
as  though  finding  themselves  suddenly  con- 
fronted by  dire  calamity.  Laurence  had  seen 
men  look  thus  in  the  breathless  pause,  between 
recurrent  earthquake  shocks,  among  the 
rocking  buildings  of  a  far-away,  Spanish- 
American  city.  As  he  passed  them,  coming 
from  that  light,  clear-coloured  room,  they 
stared  at  him,  and  slunk  aside  as  though  a 
fresh  terror  was  added  to  those  which  already 
so  unmanned  them.  In  their  present  state 
of  feeling  the  seemly  decorum  of  respectful 
service  was  relaxed  ;  and  to  Laurence,  over- 
wrought by  his  recent  and  strange  experiences, 


'The  Gateless  Barrier     193 

it    appeared    that    they   shrunk   from    him    as 
from  one  unclean  and  outcast. 

He  turned  rather  sternly  upon  Renshaw. 
"  What  is  the  meaning  of  all  this  commotion  ? 
If  I  was  wanted,  why  on  earth  was  I  not 
called  sooner  ?  " 

The  butler's  large,  smooth,  egg-shaped  face 
turned  from  purple  to  something  approaching 
grey. 

"We  had  looked  for  you  everywhere,  sir, 
both  myself  and  Mr.  Watkins,"  he  answered. 
"  But  until  Mr.  Lowndes  suggested  it,  in 
consequence  of  some  remark  passed  by  Mr. 
Rivers,  it  had  never  occurred  to  us  that  you 
would  be  in  the  yellow  drawing-room,  sir."  — 
Renshaw  cleared  his  throat,  recovering  some 
of  his  accustomed  dignity  of  bearing.  "  The 
electric  light  is  switched  on  from  the  corridor 
outside,  you  will  observe,  sir.  It  has  always 
been  understood  that  no  one  —  neither  the  upper 
or  the  under  servants,  sir  —  are  ever  required 
to  go  into  the  yellow  drawing-room  after  dusk." 

And  with  these  words,  and  their  implication 
of  commerce  on  his  part  with  something  un- 
lawful and  malign,  sounding  in  his  ears,  Lau- 
rence passed  into  his  uncle's  bed-chamber. 

13 


194     The  Gateless  Barrier 

As  he  did  so,  a  blast  of  air,  hot  and  dry  as 
from  the  mouth  of  a  furnace,  met  him.  The 
fire  upon  the  hearth  was  piled  up  into  a 
mountain  of  blazing  coal  and  wood.  The 
light  of  it  filled  the  room  with  a  fitful,  lurid 
brilliance  such  as  is  produced  by  a  great  con- 
flagration. In  it,  the  breasts  of  the  couchant 
sphinxes  glowed,  seeming  to  rise  and  fall  as 
though  they  breathed.  The  caryatides  sup- 
porting the  ebony  canopy  likewise  appeared 
indued  with  life.  Their  smooth  arms  and 
bowed  shoulders  strained  under  the  weight 
resting  upon  them  ;  while  the  wreaths  of  fruit 
and  blossom,  girding  their  naked  loins,  heaved 
from  the  painfully  sustained  effort  of  nerve 
and  muscle.  The  snake-locks  of  the  Medusa's 
head,  carved  in  high  relief  upon  the  circular, 
central  panel  of  the  back  of  the  bedstead, 
writhed,  twisted,  interlaced  and  again  slid 
asunder,  as  in  frustrated  desire  and  ceaseless 
suffering. 

And  along  the  middle  of  the  great  bed, 
surrounded  by  these  opulent  forms,  and,  at 
first  sight,  far  less  alive  than  they,  lay  Mr. 
Rivers.  His  face  was  so  blanched,  so  un- 
substantial, that,  but  for  the  glittering  eyes 


'The  Gateless  Barrier     195 

still  greedy  of  knowledge,  it  would  have 
hardly  been  distinguishable  from  the  white 
pillows  supporting  him.  His  shoulders  and 
chest  were  muffled  in  a  costly,  sable  cape ; 
from  beneath  the  lower  edge  of  which  his 
hands,  thin  as  reeds,  protruded,  lying  inert 
upon  the  thickly-wadded,  blue-and-gold, 
damask  coverlet.  On  the  oak  table  — 
moved  from  its  place  by  the  armchair  to  the 
bedside  —  were  the  few  handsomely  bound 
books,  the  crystal  memento  mori  resting  on  its 
strip  of  crimson  embroidery,  and  a  silver  bell, 
the  handle  of  it  shaped  as  a  slender,  winged 
Mercury,  elegantly  poised  for  flight. 

Behind  the  table  stood  Lowndes,  the  long- 
armed,  hard-featured  valet.  He  apparently 
remained  untouched  by  the  spirit  of  anarchy 
let  loose  in  the  house.  Laurence,  drawing 
near,  looked  at  him,  silently  asking  instruc- 
tions. The  man  fetched  a  chair  and  placed  it 
close  against  the  bedside. 

"  Be  so  good  as  to  lean  down,  sir,"  he  said. 
cc  Mr.  Rivers  wishes  to  converse  with  you ; 
but  he  has  had  a  seizure,  which  has  slightly 

*  O  J 

affected  both  his  speech  and  hearing.  He 
cannot  raise  his  voice." 


196     "The  Gateless  Barrier 

Laurence  did  as  he  was  bidden.  He  leaned 
towards  the  old  man,  resting  his  right  hand 
upon  the  haunches  of  the  ebony  sphinx,  which 
felt  singularly  warm  to  his  touch. 

"The  term  of  your  probation  and  of  mine 
alike  draws  to  its  close,"  Mr.  Rivers  said  in 
a  small,  thin  voice ;  and,  for  almost  the  first 
time  in  their  intercourse,  Laurence  saw  him 
smile. 

"  I  hope  this  is  only  a  passing  attack,  sir, 
and  that  you  may  rally,"  he  answered.  —  He 
looked  up  at  Lowndes.  "  Has  everything 
been  done  that  can  be  ?  Have  you  tele- 
graphed for  the  doctors  ?  " 

"  I  have  administered  the  prescribed  restor- 
atives. But  Mr.  Rivers  ordered  that  no 
further  measures  should  be  attempted  until 
after  his  interview  with  you,  sir." 

The  sick  man  raised  his  hand  feebly,  yet 
with  an  imperious  gesture. 

"  I  do  not  propose  to  ask  further  advice  of 
physicians,"  he  said.  "  Their  science  is  but  a 
mockery  at  this  juncture ;  at  least,  in  the  esti- 
mation of  a  person  of  my  habit  of  mind. 
That  by  the  employment  of  drugs  and  of 
stimulants  they  might  prolong  a  semblance  of 


The  Gateless  Barrier     197 

animation  in  this  physical  husk  of  me,  I  do 
not  deny.  But  what  advantage  can  accrue 
from  that,  when  my  mental  activity  is  becom- 
ing paralysed,  and  the  action  of  my  brain 
grows  sluggish  and  intermittent?  When  all 
that  differentiates  a  human  being  from  the 
brute  beasts  has  perished,  let  the  animal  part 
perish  also.  The  sooner,  the  better;  for,  in 
itself,  it  is  far  from  precious." 

His  voice  had  become  very  faint,  and  he 
waited,  making  a  determined  effort,  as  Laurence 
perceived,  to  rally  his  ebbing  powers. 

"  Tell  Lowndes  to  go,"  he  whispered.  "  I 
wish  to  be  alone  with  you." 

Then  as  the  man-servant  noiselessly  with- 
drew, the  thin,  but  barely  audible  accents 
again  stole  out  upon  the  fiercely  heated  air. 

"  The  body,  its  necessities,  its  passions,  its 
perpetually  impeding  grossness  throughout 
life,  is  an  insult  to  the  mind.  But  the  final 
act  of  this  long  course  of  insult,  namely,  the 
decay  of  this  vile  associate,  is  the  culminating 
insolence,  the  most  unpardonable  insult  of  all. 
I  have  trained  myself  to  ignore  these  thoughts, 
to  disregard  them  as  a  proud  man  disregards 
some  mutilation  or  personal  disfigurement. 


198      The  Gateless  Barrier 

But  they  crowd  in  upon  me,  refusing  to  be 
disregarded,  to-night.  Here  lies  the  sting  of 
the  insult !  For  as  the  strength  of  this  vile, 
animal  part  of  me  lessens,  far  from  setting  the 
intellect  free,  it  infects  this  last  with  its  own 
increasing  degradation.  The  lower  drags  the 
higher  down  along  with  it.  They  grovel 
together.  Contemptible  doubts  and  fears 
assail  me.  Discredited  traditions  press  them- 
selves upon  my  remembrance.  And  the  bur- 
den of  it  all  is  this,  that  I  have  laboured  in 
vain.  As  the  body  dies,  so  dies  the  mind. 
All  the  garnered  knowledge  of  years  will 
be  lost,  will  drop  infertile,  into  the  void  — 
the  insatiable  void  which  yawns  alike  for 
high  philosopher  and  for  drivelling  pothouse 
sot." 

His  voice  sank,  in  uttering  the  last  few 
words,  into  a  whisper  of  concentrated  bitter- 
ness. His  eyes  closed,  and  for  some  minutes 
the  dying  man  lay  motionless. 

Laurence  could  not  bring  himself  to  speak. 
The  words  to  which  he  had  just  listened  so 
nearly  reproduced  and  rendered  articulate 
those  sensations  he  had  himself  so  lately 
endured.  The  vision  of  all-absorbing  Nothing- 


The  Gateless  Barrier     199 

ness  again  arose  before  him,  as  background  to 
those  opulent  forms,  classic  and  pagan,  upon 
which  his  eyes  immediately  rested.  An  un- 
holy and  voluptuous  life  seemed  to  move  in 
those  forms  still.  A  smile  curved  the  heavy 
lips  of  the  sphinxes.  The  rounded,  glistening 
arms  of  the  caryatides  appeared  outstretched 
less  in  support  than  in  solicitation ;  while  the 
snake-locks  of  Medusa  writhed,  pushing  upon 
each  other  amorously.  The  flesh,  triumphant 

in    vigour    and    in   carnal    invitation,    seemed, 

o  * 

indeed,  to  flout  the  intellect;  as  though  the 
animal  functions  of  mankind  and  the  symbols 
of  these  alone  had  power  to  survive  from  age 
to  age,  were  alone  arbiters  and  architects  of 
human  fate.  And  yet,  yet,  somewhere  — 
could  he  but  have  reached  it  —  Laurence  knew 
there  was  a  way  of  escape.  That  he  had  come 
very  near  reaching  it  in  the  final  moments  of 
that  silent  struggle  downstairs,  when  the  sweet 
figure  of  his  dear  fairy-lady  grew  increasingly 
clear  to  his  sight,  he  could  not  doubt.  And 
once  again,  with  a  great  desiring,  he  desired 
her ;  for  his  faith  was  strong  that  of  all  these 
things  she  somehow  —  how  he  could  not  say 
as  yet  —  held  the  key. 


200     The  Gateless  Barrier 

Just  then  Mr.  Rivers  raised  his  eyelids 
slightly  and  turned  his  head  upon  the  pillow. 

"It  is  very  horrible,"  he  said  slowly,  speak- 
ing to  himself  rather  than  to  his  companion. 
"The  quantity  of  matter  is  stable.  It  for  ever 
seeks  its  own,  and  finding  it  re-unites.  The 
destruction  of  one  form  is  but  the  necessary 
prelude  to  the  development  of  others,  and  in 
this  process  of  perpetual  redistribution  not  a 
fraction  of  the  sum  total  is  lost.  There  is  no 
waste  save  in  the  higher  aspects  of  man's  con- 
stitution—  " 

But  here  Laurence  roused  himself  to  protest. 

"  Matter  returns  to  matter,  sir,  granted,"  he 
said.  "  Then  why  not  spirit  to  spirit  ?  Are 
you  not  assuming  a  waste  which  you  cannot 
prove  ?  And  if  spirit  does  return  to  spirit, 
what  better  than  that,  after  all,  can  we  ask  ?  " 

"  Spirit  ?  "  Mr.  Rivers  retorted,  with  a  fine 
inflection  of  irony,  and  momentary  brightening 
of  those  half-closed  eyes.  "  You,  my  dear 
Laurence,  employ  words  glibly  enough  which  1 
hesitate  to  pronounce !  Matter  I  know.  It 
is  evident  to  the  senses.  Its  actual  existence 
—  Berkeley,  certain  Oriental  and  other  phi- 
losophers notwithstanding  —  is,  within  certain 


Gateless  Barrier     201 


limits,  susceptible  of  proof.  And  intellect  I 
know.  Its  existence,  though  on  other  lines,  is 
equally  susceptible  of  proof.  Its  action  can 
be  registered  and  ratified.  But  spirit  ?  —  I 
will  thank  you  to  inform  me  —  what  is 
spirit  ?  " 

The  young  man  bowed  himself  together, 
resting  his  elbows  on  his  knees.  He  smiled 
with  a  half-humorous  air  of  apology. 

cc  That  I  cannot  tell  you,  sir,"  he  said. 
"  I  'm  better  at  conviction  than  at  explanation, 
I  'm  afraid.  I  only  know  —  not  with  my 
reason,  but  with  my  heart  —  that  spirit  is,  and 
has  been,  and  must  be  everlastingly." 

"  And  its  mode  of  expression,  its  mode  of 
self-revelation  ?  "  the  other  inquired  drily. 

Laurence  straightened  himself  up,  laughing 
a  little. 

"  One  way,  the  old  why  —  childish,  per- 
haps, yet  really  rather  charming.  In  and  by 
love,  sir  —  only  so,  by  love." 

Tremulously  Mr.  Rivers  drew  the  rich, 
sable  cape  -closer  about  him,  though  the  heat 
of  the  room  was  intense. 

"  I  become  very  abject,"  he  said  at  last.  "  I 
procrastinate  and  risk  letting  slip  the  oppor- 


202     'The  Gateless  Barrier 

tunity  still  permitted  me.  For  in  my  abjec- 
tion, I  own  I  clutch  at  straws,  miserably 
anxious  for  support.  I  am  ashamed  that  any 
other  human  being  should  witness  the  mental 
prostration  to  which  physical  illness  has  re- 
duced me.  But  time  presses,  and  compels  me 
to  delay  no  longer  in  confessing  my  object  in 
calling  you  to  me  to-night.  Tell  me,  Lau- 
rence, have  you  investigated  those  abnormal 
phenomena  of  which  we  spoke,  and  have  your 
investigations  yielded  any  result  ?  " 

The  question  took  the  listener  somewhat  by 
surprise,  and  he  hesitated  before  replying. 
The  whole  matter  had  become  of  such  vital 
importance  to  him,  personal,  intimate,  among 
the  dearest  and  most  reverently-held  secrets  of 
his  heart.  So  he  shrank,  as  before  an  act  of 
profanation,  from  submitting  the  history  of  his 
fairy-lady  and  of  his  strange  relation  to  her  to 
the  criticism  of  this  cold-blooded,  sceptical  in- 
telligence. Yet  he  was  bound  by  his  promise 
to  report,  if  called  on  to  do  so  —  bound,  too, 
in  mere  humanity  towards  one  lying  at  the 
point  of  death,  and  to  whom  that  history 
might,  conceivably,  bring  solace  and  enlighten- 
ment. 


The  Gateless  Barrier     203 

"  Yes,  I  have  investigated  the  phenomena 
in  part,"  he  answered. 

"And  the  result?" 

"  Briefly,  I  think,  that  which  I  ventured  to 
state  to  you  just  now  —  that  love  is  the  Ian-  - 
guage  of  the  spirit,  the  only  medium  through 
which  spirit  can  declare  itself  and  be  appre- 
hended, the  one  element  of  our  poor  human 
constitution  which  promises  to  continue  and 
to  preserve  to  us  a  measure  of  coherence  and 
individuality  even  after  death." 

The  young  man  leaned  forward  again,  and 
laid  his  hand  on  the  warm  haunches  of  the  ebony 
sphinx  with  a  movement  of  slight  defiance. 

"  Listen,"  he  said,  cc  please,  sir,  and  I  '11  do 
my  best  to  tell  you  exactly  what  has  happened 
since  we  spoke  of  this  subject  last." 

He  steadied  himself  to  his  task,  trying  to 
keep  his  narrative  circumstantial  and  restrained, 
to  offer  nothing  more  than  a  bald  statement  of 
fact.  But  the  charm  of  it,  once  he  had  started, 
was  a  little  too  much  for  him.  His  speech 
grew  lyrical  against  his  will.  And  Mr.  Rivers 
listened,  his  eyes  closed,  his  brow  drawn  into 
hard  lines  by  the  effort  of  attention.  Once  he 
held  up  his  hand. 


204     The  Gateless  Barrier 

"  Did  you  question  this  appearance  ? "  he 
asked. 

"  It  was  useless,"  Laurence  answered,  with  a 
queer  break  in  his  voice.  "  She  never  spoke 
—  that  is  in  words.  She  was  dumb." 

"  That  is  unfortunate,"  Mr.  Rivers  said 
coldly.  "  Well,  pray,  go  on." 

And  Laurence  obeyed  ;  recounting,  with  but 
slight  reservation,  all,  even  to  the  events  of  the 
last  few  hours,  when  he  and  his  sweet  com- 
panion had  vainly  sought  to  reach  each  other 
ii.  defiance  of  some  mighty,  opposing  force,  and 
ho\\ ,  at  the  crucial  moment  of  the  struggle, 
Mr.  .Rivers' s  summons  had  come. 

"There,  sir,"  said  he  finally — "now  you 
have  it  all  as  far  as  I  can  give  it  you.  I  don't 
attempt  to  explain,  though  I  may  have  my 
own  ideas  on  the  subject.  I  Ve  tried  to  put  it 
quite  honestly  before  you,  and  must  leave  you 
to  thrash  the  meaning  out  of  it  for  yourself." 

For  some  little  space  the  sick  man  remained 
silent ;  then  he  raised  both  hands  and  let  them 
sink  back  upon  the  coverlet  with  the  gesture 
of  one  who  bids  farewell  to  hope. 

"  Fables !  "  he  said  bitterly  ;  "  fables  !  I  ask 
bread  of  you  and  you  give  me  a  stone.  I  offer 


The  Gateless  Barrier    205 

you  an  unprecedented  opportunity  of  psycho- 
logical study,  and  you  approach  it  in  the  spirit 
of  a  ballad-monger  or  a  mountebank  !  I  re- 
quire from  you  close  observation,  scientific 
acumen,  an  unrelenting  pursuit  of  truth  ;  and 
you  put  me  off  with  some  old  wives'  tale  of 
lost  letters,  the  ravings  of  an  hysterical  girl,  of 
re-incarnation,  multiple  identity,  and  I  know 
not  what  farrago  of  sickly  sentiment  and  out- 
worn superstition  !  You  trouble  me  with  rub- 
bish, which  it  would  be  an  impertinence  to 
offer  as  material  for  serious  consideration  to  a 
peasant's  child,  of  ordinary  mental  capacity,  in 
a  modern  board-school.  Nor  can  I,  my  dear 
Laurence,  acquit  you  of  insincerity,  since  you 
trick  out  this  unworthy  stuff  in  the  extravagant 
language  of  an  erotic  poem,  while  claiming  for 
yourself  an  attitude  wholly  platonic  and  supe- 
rior to  animal  passion." 

"You  are  harsh,  sir,"  Laurence  was  per- 
mitted to  remark. 

Mr.  Rivers  turned  his  head  on  the  pillow. 
His  expression  was  distinctly  malevolent. 

"  I  begin  to  gauge  the  average  man,"  he 
replied  calmly.  "  I  begin  to  recognise  that 
he  is  a  willing,  probably  wilful,  self-deceiver 


206     The  Gateless  Barrier 

—  that  he  is  incapable  of  mental  advance, 
that  he  will  never  expunge  the  mythological 
element  from  his  religious  outlook,  or  learn 
to  discriminate  between  emotion,  the  product 
of  the  senses,  and  accurate  knowledge,  the 
product  of  laborious  enquiry  and  elevated 
thought." 

"  Perhaps  he  is  wiser  so,"  Laurence  said. 
"  Perhaps  —  I  speak  subject  to  correction, 
sir  —  but  perhaps  he  gets  into  touch,  that 
way,  with  things  not  altogether  unimportant 
in  the  long  history  of  the  human  race." 

"  Here,  within  measurable  distance  of  dis- 
solution, I  grow  somewhat  weary  of  perhaps. 
Yet  I  deserve  that  you  should  answer  me 
this,  since  I  have  shown  myself  very  weak. 
I  had  not  courage  to  embrace  the  remarkable 
opportunity  of  investigating  the  phenomena 
of  which  we  have  spoken  when  it  was  offered 
me  in  my  prime.  Now,  in  my  decadence, 
surreptitiously  and  at  second  hand,  I  try  to 
acquire  the  knowledge  I  then  repudiated.  I 
clutch  at  straws,  and  the  straws  sink  with  me. 
It  is  just.  For  the  second  time  I  am  untrue 
to  my  principles.  I  accept  the  rebuke." 

During  the  last  half  hour  there  had   been 


The  Gateless  Barrier     207 

a  lull  in  the  storm  ;  but  now  the  wind,  shift- 
ing to  a  point  north  of  west,  hurled  itself 
against  the  house-front  with  renewed  fury, 
and  screamed  against  the  shuddering  case- 
ments as  though  determined  to  gain  entrance. 
The  effect  was  that  of  personal  violence  in- 
tended, and,  with  difficulty,  repulsed.  To 
Laurence  an  inrush  of  the  tempest  would  have 
been  hardly  unwelcome,  for  the  heat  of  the 
atmosphere  oppressed  him  to  the  point  of 
distress.  Nor  was  this  all.  Once  more  he 
became  aware,  so  it  seemed  to  him,  of  the 
tremendous,  unseen  presence  with  which  he 
had  struggled  earlier  this  same  evening  in 
the  yellow  drawing-room  below.  He  was 
aware  that  it  stood  on  the  far  side  of  the 
great,  ebony  bed,  waiting,  and  the  young 
man's  heart  stood  still.  He  saw  Mr.  Rivers 
gather  the  sable  cape  more  closely  about  him, 
as  he  lay  staring  out  into  the  austere  yet 
luxurious  room ;  and  he  recognised  that  for 
all  his  mortal  weakness  there  was  a  certain 
magnificence  in  the  dying  man's  aspect. 

"And  beyond  the  superb,  and  always  unre- 
deemed, promise  of  human  life,  a  blank,"  Mr. 
Rivers  said  at  last,  his  voice  hollow,  and, 


2o8     "The  Gateless  Barrier 

though  so  small,  asserting  itself  strangely 
against  the  tumult  of  the  storm.  "  Reason, 
learning,  the  senses,  carry  us  thus  far,  only 
to  project  us  against  a  gateless  barrier  at  the 
last !  " 

But  Laurence's  whole  nature  arose  in  fierce 
revolt.  Again  he  renewed  that  awful  struggle, 
but  this  time  in  articulate  speech. 

"  No,  no,  sir,"  he  cried  sharply,  authorita- 
tively, "  the  barrier  is  not  gateless  —  that  is, 
to  any  one  of  us  who  has  ever,  even  dimly 
and  passingly,  known  true-love,  and  that  of 
which  true-love  is  the  everlasting  exponent  and 
blessed  symbol,  namely,  Almighty  God." 

"  And  I  have  known  neither,"  Mr.  Rivers 
answered.  "  Love  I  have  never  felt.  God 
I  have  never  needed,  either  as  an  object  of 
worship,  or  as  incentive  to  prayer.  Therefore, 
for  me,  on  your  own  showing,  the  barrier 
needs  must  remain  gateless." 

He  bowed  his  head  slightly,  smiling  upon 
the  young  man  with  a  fine,  ironical  courtesy. 

"  I  will  ask  your  pardon  for  any  weariness 
I  may  have  caused  you,  Laurence,"  he  added. 
"And  now  I  think  we  have  nothing  further 
to  say  to  one  another.  I  have  no  quarrel 


The  Gateless  Barrier    209 

with  your  fulfilment  of  your  part  of  the  con- 
tract. It  has  been  only — possibly  —  too 
complete.  So  I  will  detain  you  no  longer. 
You  can  leave  me.  I  bid  you  good-night." 

The  young  man  would  have  answered  with 
some  kindly  words  of  farewell ;  but  as  the 
other  ceased  speaking,  he  became  aware  that, 
under  the  glistening,  outstretched  arms  of  the 
caryatides,  that  tremendous  unseen  presence 
bent  downwards,  extending  itself  sensibly  over 
the  bed.  Suddenly,  and  with  a  surprising 
effect  of  strength,  Mr.  Rivers  started  into  a 
sitting  position. 

"  Lowndes,"  he  called  imperatively,  and 
reached  out  for  the  handle  of  the  silver  bell. 

But  before  Laurence  could  render  him  any 
help  he  sunk  down  sideways  —  as  though 
under  the  weight  of  a  heavy  blow  —  the  upper 
part  of  his  body  hanging  over  the  edge  of  the 
bed,  and  his  thin,  reed-like  hands,  with  their 
ancient  and  mysterious  rings,  dragging  upon 
the  carpet  —  dead. 


1 


XVII 

afternoon  was  fair  and  mild,  a 
pensive  charm  upon  it  of  misty  sun- 
shine and  light  fugitive  shadows  — 
one  of  those  tender,  silvery  afternoons 
very  characteristic  of  an  English  spring.  It 
was  as  though  nature,  repentant  of  the  violence 
of  the  past  night,  would  disarm  resentment  by 
softness  of  mood,  pretty  invitations,  and  all 
manner  of  insinuating  caresses.  Thrushes 
piped  among  the  high  branches,  and  on  the 
house-roofs  starlings  whistled  and  chattered, 
their  crops  filled  with  succulent  comfort  of 
worms  and  slugs.  Upon  the  wide  lawns  two 
pairs  of  grey  wag-tails  scampered,  with  inter- 
ludes of  love-making  and  rapid  upward  flutter- 
ings  after  young  gnats  and  flies  —  born  out  of 
due  time  and  paying  speedy  and  final  penalty 
of  too  precocious  an  advent.  The  year  had 
fairly  turned  its  back  on  winter  at  last,  and  a 
promise  of  genial  days,  warm,  lingering  twi- 
lights, and  tranquil  nights  was  in  the  air. 

Yet  the  late  storm  had  not  departed  alto- 
gether without  witness.  For  Laurence,  pacing 
the  broad  walk  from  the  last  steps  of  the 


The  Gateless  Barrier     211 

Italian  garden  to  the  confines  of  the  lime- 
grove,  could  hear  the  hushing  of  birch-brooms 
and  the  ring  of  an  axe.  One  of  the  tall 
cypresses  had  fallen  right  across  the  central 
alley,  and  gardeners  were  still  busy  chopping  it 
up,  carting  away  blocks  of  red  wood  and  bar- 
row-loads of  scented  branches,  and  obliterating 
the  traces  of  its  downfall. 

Laurence  paced  the  walk  in  a  state  of 
dreamy  abstraction.  The  influences  of  the 
hour  and  the  place  were  soothing  to  him. 
Their  last  interview  and  the  final  scene  in  his 
uncle's  bed-chamber  had  affected  him  deeply. 
To-day  had  been  full  of  detail.  He  had 
spent  great  part  of  the  morning  at  the  little, 
grey,  Norman  church,  in  company  with  Arm- 
strong, Mr.  Beal,  and  the  estate  mason,  super- 
intending the  opening  of  the  Rivers's  vault, 
and  such  alteration  of  the  position  of  the 
coffins  it  contained  as  to  render  possible  the 
addition  of  another  to  their  number.  Upon 
the  coffin-plates  he  read  the  names  of  many 
members  of  his  family — of  Dudley  Rivers  and 
others;  and  that  of  his  own  father,  Denbigh 
Rivers,  who  had  died  on  foreign  service  in 
Malta,  when  he— Laurence — was  a  child, 


212     The  Gateless  Barrier 

and  whose  body  had  been  sent  home,  not 
without  cost  and  difficulty,  to  lie  among  his 
kindred  in  this  quiet  place.  Of  Agnes  Rivers's 
coffin  —  though  he  closely  examined  all  such 
as  were  still  intact  —  he  discovered  no  trace. 

"  There  won't  be  room  for  me  or  mine 
down  there,  Armstrong,"  he  said  to  the  agent, 
as  the  two  stood  in  the  sunny  churchyard, 
flicking  the  clinging  cobwebs  of  the  vault  from 
off  their  clothes.  "  Not  that  I  'm  particu- 
larly sorry  for  that.  Look  here,  you  see  the 
vacant  space  there  by  the  chancel  wall  ?  Just 
try  if  you  can  arrange  to  have  it  staked  out 
and  reserved,  without  encroaching  on  the  rights 
or  hurting  the  feelings  of  any  of  the  parishion- 
ers. I  rather  fancy  lying  there  —  unless  I  'm 
lucky  enough  to  die  at  sea,  and  be  dropped 
over  the  ship's  side  into  the  clear,  blue  water, 
with  a  shot  at  my  feet." 

"  Every  man  to  his  humour,  no  doubt,  Mr. 
Rivers,"  the  other  answered,  in  his  slow  sing- 
song. "  Though  I  could  find  it  in  my  heart 
to  wish  you  a  less  uneasy  resting-place  than 
the  swaying  deeps  of  the  ocean.  Yet  I  sup- 
pose it  was  just  there,  and  in  the  manner  you 
have  indicated,  that  your  namesake  and  great- 


The  Gateless  Barrier    213 

uncle,  Laurence  Rivers,  found  burial  after  the 
glorious  battle  of  Trafalgar." 

Laurence  had  stopped  beating  the  clinging 
cobwebs  from  his  sleeve,  and  turned  to  the 
speaker  with  a  look  of  quick  intelligence. 

"  Why,  of  course  it  was,"  he  said,  presently 
adding  — "  Upon  my  word,  I  wonder  — 
will  history  repeat  itself  in  that  particular 
also  ! " 

Subsequently,  there  had  been  letters  to 
write,  telegrams  to  despatch,  the  disorganised 
household  gently,  but  firmly,  to  lay  hold 
on.  And  now  he  paced  the  broad  walk  in  an 
interval  of  leisure,  listening  till  the  grinding  of 
carriage-wheels  upon  the  gravel  of  the  chestnut 
avenue  should  advise  him  that  Mr.  Wormald, 
his  uncle's  lawyer  —  whom  he  had  summoned 
from  town  —  had  arrived  at  Stoke  Rivers 
Road,  and  completed  the  transit  from  that 
station.  And  as  he  thus  paced,  while  the 
silvery  sunshine  and  shadow  gently  followed 
one  another  across  the  face  of  the  fair,  wood- 
land landscape,  a  little  of  the  pride  of  posses- 
sion awoke  in  the  young  man.  He  had  hardly 
had  time  to  think  of  that  before ;  nor  did  it 
seem  quite  fitting  or  seemly  to  do  so  when  the 


214     The  Gateless  Barrier 

breath  had  but  so  lately  left  the  body  lying  in 
that  stately  room  upstairs.  Yet  it  was  indis- 
putable, this  was  precisely  the  event  which, 
consciously  or  unconsciously,  he  had  waited 
for  ever  since  his  boyhood.  The  prospect  of 
one  day  succeeding  to  this  property  had  handi- 
capped him ;  he  felt  that.  It  had  placed  him 
in  a  position,  socially,  slightly  beyond  his 
means.  It  had  taken  from  him  the  incentive 
and  inclination  to  carve  out  an  independent 
career.  So  far  it  had  been  the  reverse  of  an 
advantage,  from  the  more  serious  standpoint. 
But  now  all  that  was  changed.  He  had  a  very 
definite  "  name  and  local  habitation."  He  was 
absolutely  his  own  master  —  no  longer  heir- 
apparent,  but  recognised  owner  and  ruler  of  a 
by  no  means  contemptible  territory.  This  was 
as  the  step  from  boyhood  to  manhood — from 
the  last  of  a  public  school  to  the  freedom  and 
personal  responsibility  of  youth  no  longer  sub- 
ject to  tutelage.  Laurence  smiled  to  himself. 
It  occurred  to  him  he  had  really  got  to  grow 
up  at  last.  Well  —  he  had  been  a  precious 
long  time  about  it !  And  then,  somehow,  it 
occurred  to  him  that  this  change  in  his  fortunes 
altered  and  modified  his  relation  to  Virginia. 


The  Gateless  Barrier     215 

He  had  lived  in  Virginia's  country,  and  among 
her  friends,  almost  exclusively,  since  his  mar- 
riage. He  had,  he  was  aware,  ranked  some- 
what as  Virginia's  husband.  Now  the  state 
of  affairs  was  reversed.  He  was  in  a  position 
to  claim  full  masculine  prerogatives  —  those  of 
an  old  country,  of  a  ripe  and  finished  civilisa- 
tion, well  understood.  In  future  Virginia  — 
she  was  very  charming,  very,  he  'd  no  quarrel 
with  her  of  course  —  only,  in  future,  Virginia 
would  have  to  rank  as  his  wife. 

And,  thereupon,  involuntarily  his  eyes 
sought  the  bay-window  of  the  yellow  drawing- 
room.  At  the  foot  of  the  semicircular  stone 
steps,  on  to  which  that  window  opened,  the 
gardeners  still  moved  to  and  fro  —  slow,  brown- 
clad  figures  —  collecting  and  wheeling  away 
the  debris  of  the  fallen  cypress.  Laurence 
refused  to  formulate  further  the  thoughts  that 
arose  in  his  mind.  Only  one  thing  was  clear 
to  him  —  clear  as  the  songs  and  whistlings  of 
the  birds,  clear  as  the  tinkle  and  plash  of  the 
fountains,  the  spray  of  which  glittered  so 
brightly  silver  in  the  silvery  light  —  Virginia 
could  not  come  to  Stoke  Rivers  just  yet.  It 
was  better  —  better  in  every  way  —  that  her 


216      The  Gateless  Barrier 

coming  should  be  postponed  for  a  while  —  till 
the  period  of  mourning  for  his  uncle  was  over 

—  till  he,  Laurence,  had  mastered  all  the  busi- 
ness,   and    organised    the    existent    masculine 
household    upon    a    new    basis  —  till    he    had 
thoroughly  acquainted  himself  not  only  with 
the  working  of  this,  but  of  the  Scotch  estate 

—  till  he  and  Virginia  were  free  to  keep  open 
house  —  till  —  till  — 

At  that  moment,  perhaps  fortunately,  the 
dogcart  emerged  from  the  shelter  of  the  great 
chestnut- trees,  and  swung  round  the  carriage 
sweep  to  the  front  door.  Laurence  crossed  the 
lawns  and  the  angle  of  the  Italian  garden 
quickly.  —  What  a  pity  that  cypress  had  fallen  ! 
It  broke  the  line,  destroying  the  symmetry  of 
the  garden ;  and  it  was  almost  the  tallest  and 
finest  grown  of  the  lot. 

In  the  hall  Mr.  Wormald  discoursed  affably 
with  the  men-servants,  while  the  latter  divested 
him  of  more  than  one  overcoat.  He  was  a 
small,  withered  man,  his  back  bowed  and  his 
hands  sadly  crippled  by  rheumatic  gout,  by 
much  handling  of  pens,  and  leaning  over 
lengthy  legal  documents ;  yet  his  movements 
were  noticeably  alert.  His  clean-shaven,  busy, 


The  Gateless  Barrier     217 

little  face  was  enlightened  by  nimble,  red- 
brown,  squirrel-like  eyes. 

"  Thank  ye,  Renshaw,"  he  said.  "  Gently 
—  ah,  yes,  you  remember !  These  damp, 
spring  days  get  into  my  joints,  I  promise 
you.  Ah !  there  you  are,  Watkins.  Yes, 
sad  affair  this,  and  sudden.  Great  shock  to 
you  all,  no  doubt.  Quite  so  —  but  I  ob- 
serve that  so  frequently  is  the  case.  A  linger- 
ing illness,  the  termination  of  which  grows  to 
seem  more  and  more  remote,  and  then  the  end 
with  unlooked-for  rapidity.  Yes,  very  sad." 

Disengaging  himself  from  the  sleeves  of  his 
second  coat,  he  perceived  Laurence's  arrival, 
and  his  squirrel-like  eyes  scampered,  so  to 
speak,  over  the  young  man  from  head  to  foot. 
Like  the  agent,  he  appeared  to  receive  an 
agreeable  impression,  for  he  gave  a  subdued 
squeak  evidently  indicative  of  satisfaction. 

"  Ah  !  Mr.  Rivers,"  he  exclaimed,  "  you 
will  not  remember  me.  It  is  many  years 
since  we  met.  You  were  a  little  shaver  in 
an  Eton-jacket  and  round  collar.  And  your 
poor  uncle  passed  away  quite  suddenly 
at  last  ?  —  Not  a  matter  for  regret,  I  ven- 
ture to  think.  Few  men  would  have  been 


218     The  Gateless  Barrier 

more  fretted  by  a  consciousness  of  failing 
powers.  Remarkable  intellect "  —  Mr.  Wor- 
mald  keckled  softly,  as  he  passed  with  the 
young  man  into  the  library  —  "quite  beyond 
me,  out  of  my  humble  range  altogether,  you 
know,  Mr.  Rivers.  I  admired  his  conversa- 
tion ;  yet  I  cannot  venture  to  pretend  I  at- 
tached any  intelligible  meaning  to  one-half  of 
what  your  uncle  said.  But  our  business  rela- 
tions were  very  simple.  He  disliked  business 
too  much  to  wish  to  prolong  the  discussion  of 
it.  You  will  find  all  legal  arrangements  very 
direct.  The  death  duties  will  be  heavy ;  but, 
otherwise  there  are  no  deductions,  I  believe, 
save  one  or  two  small  legacies  to  the  servants. 
—  Dinner,  yes,  Mr.  Rivers,  the  earlier  the 
better  for  me.  I  should  be  glad  to  put  in  a 
long  evening  with  Armstrong;  then  we  will 
have  everything  ready  for  you  in  the  morn- 
ing. I  have  an  appointment  with  a  client 
at  five  to-morrow  afternoon,  so  I  will  ask 
you  to  let  me  go  up  by  the  two  o'clock.  I 
shall  not  need  to  encroach  on  your  time 
to-night." 

Therefore  it  happened,  that,  comparatively 
early  Laurence  found  himself  free  to  go  down 


The  Gateless  Barrier     219 

the  red-carpeted  corridor,  pull  back  the  heavy, 
leather-lined  curtain,  and  enter  the  room  of 
strange  and  delectable  meetings  once  again. 
What  fortune,  good  or  bad,  awaited  him,  he 
could  not  even  surmise.  He  had  learned 
one  thing  at  least,  that,  in  this  connection, 
nothing  was  certain  save  the  unforeseen. 
Nevertheless,  he  was  sensible  of  slight  sur- 
prise on  rinding  the  room  shrouded  in  vague 
gloom.  By  some  oversight  the  electric  light 
had  not  been  turned  on.  But  the  March 
evenings  were  long,  and  he  had  come  to  the 
trysting-place  before  the  accustomed  hour. 
The  day  was  not  wholly  dead  yet,  and  twi- 
light lingered  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the 
bay-window.  After  his  first  movement  of 
surprise,  Laurence  found  a  restful  charm  in 
the  soft  obscurity  surrounding  him.  Once 
again  the  room  had  resumed  its  effect  of 
friendliness ;  and  if  his  fairy-lady  was  not 
there  as  yet,  no  more  were  malign  and  oppos- 
ing powers.  The  place  was  kindly  and  peace- 
ful. It,  like  the  weather,  had  settled  back 
into  a  mild  and  engaging  mood. 

The  young  man  felt  his  way  across  to  the 
window,    and   sat   down   in    one    of  the   gilt- 


220     'The  Gateless  Barrier 

framed,  brocade-covered  armchairs  on  the 
right  of  the  bay.  There  he  waited,  looking 
out  now  at  the  garden,  growing  mysterious 
and  shadowy  in  the  deepening  dusk ;  now  at 
the  tall,  satin-wood  escritoire,  the  highly 
polished  surfaces  of  which,  reflecting  the  ex- 
piring light,  glistened  so  that  the  shape  of 
it  remained  visible  after  surrounding  objects 
had  faded  from  sight. 

How  long  he  waited  Laurence  did  not 
know,  nor  did  he  greatly  care.  He  had  been 
very  actively  employed  for  the  better  part  of 
the  last  six-and-thirty  hours,  and  both  as  to 
mind  and  body  he  was  in  an  unusually  quies- 
cent state.  His  energies  were  in  pleasant 
suspension.  The  dimly  seen  room  swam  be- 
fore his  eyes.  He  made  no  effort  of  resist- 
ance. A  mist  clouded  his  vision,  clouded  all 
his  faculties,  and  he  slept. 

When  he  awoke  it  was  high  noon.  He  lay 
on  the  stone  bench  beneath  the  lime-trees, 
the  innumerable  leaves  of  which  rustled  and 
danced  in  the  warm,  summer  wind.  He 
awoke  laughing  from  a  wholly  delicious  dream 
—  a  young  man's  dream  of  very  lovely  love, 
which  after  long  denial  and  delay  had  found 


The  Gateless  Barrier     221 

perfect  fulfilment.  He  felt  very  light  and 
content.  Life  was  sweet,  this  smiling,  sum- 
mer world  infinitely  hopeful  and  sympathetic. 
Then  he  stretched  himself,  smoothed  the 
revers  of  his  flowered,  silk  waistcoat,  and 
straightened  his  lawn  cravat,  which  had  been 
somewhat  displaced  during  the  pleasant  re- 
laxation of  slumber.  He  rubbed  a  trifle  of 
dust,  too,  from  the  knee  of  his  plumb-coloured 
breeches  with  his  handkerchief.  Then  he 
stood  up  still  laughing,  yet  with  a  growing 
hunger  in  his  heart,  since  he  began  to  realise 
that  those  delights  were  his,  as  yet,  only 
within  the  gates  of  sleep  and  of  dreams.  He 
stretched  again,  a  sigh  mingling  with  his 
laughter ;  and  then  discovered  that  through 
the  shifting,  dappled  sunlight  and  shadow 
Agnes  Rivers  approached  him  with  her  pretty, 
flitting,  bird-like  grace.  To-day  she  wore  a 
pale,  lemon-yellow,  India-muslin  dress,  spotted 
with  cinnamon-coloured  sprigs,  and  a  white 
and  cinnamon  coloured  waist  ribbon  em- 
broidered in  blown  roses  and  tiny  buds.  A 
black,  velvet  work-bag,  with  long  yellow  and 
black  strings  to  it,  hung  upon  her  arm ;  while 
her  charming  head  and  neck  showed  up  in 


222     The  Gateless  Barrier 

high  relief  against  the  open  blue-grey  sun- 
shade she  carried  tilted  over  her  right  shoulder. 
Laurence  went  forward  to  meet  her,  all  aglow 
from  his  recent  sleep  and  from  the  fond  im- 
aginations of  that  delicious  dream.  Half  play- 
fully, half  in  sharp  desire  of  mastery,  he  took 
away  her  sunshade  and  work-bag,  and  threw 
them  down  upon  the  turf.  Then  grasping  both 
her  hands  in  his,  he  kissed  and  kissed  them, 
holding  them  high  and  bending  his  head  so 
that  his  eyes  were  on  a  level  with  hers.  And 
there  must  have  been  something  in  his  eyes  fear- 
ful, though  enchanting,  to  her  perfect  maidenli- 
ness,  for  she  flushed  and  tried  to  withdraw 
her  hands,  moving  back  a  step  from  him  with 
an  air  of  questioning  and  innocent  dignity. 

"  Laurence,  Laurence,"  she  said  chidingly, 
"  what  does  this  mean  ?  What  has  taken 
you  ?  " 

"  Only  happiness,"  he  answered,  cc  of  which, 
having  seen  the  dear  vision,  I  very  badly  need 
the  still  dearer  reality." 

"  Ah ! "  she  said,  "  and  yet  you  will  go 
away  —  how  soon  we  do  not  know  —  to  this 
most  unhappy  war,  and  leave  me  desolate." 

"  Yes,  and  it  is  best  so,  sweetheart,"  he  re- 


The  Gateless  Barrier     223 

plied  ;  serious,  though  still  smiling  —  she  was 
so  pure,  so  trustful,  and  so  very  fair.  Her 
gentle  beauty  racked  him  —  "Best  so,"  he  re- 
peated — "  best  pass  the  time  honourably, 
fighting  for  king  and  country,  until  your 
twenty-first  birthday  is  past,  and  Dudley  can 
no  longer  forbid  our  marriage,  and  I  can 
claim  you,  make  and  keep  you  mine  forever 
and  a  day  —  " 

And  thereupon  he  stopped  abruptly,  for  his 
elder  brother  had  come  upon  them  unper- 
ceived  —  Dudley,  thin  and  tall,  clothed  in 
sad-coloured,  brown-grey  coat  and  vest,  the 
locks  of  his  long,  pale  hair  stirred  by  the 
summer  wind,  in  his  hand  a  bundle  of  papers 
—  Dudley,  whose  high,  narrow  head,  refined 
features,  and  deep-set,  fanatical  eyes  reminded 
Laurence  strangely  of  his  uncle,  Montagu 
Rivers,  lying  upstairs  in  the  carven,  ebony 
bed,  with  the  crystal  memento  mori  and  the 
silver  bell  of  the  elegantly  poised  Mercury 
handle  on  the  table  beside  him.  —  But  how 
was  that?  How  could  it  be?  He  confused 
two  generations.  Dudley  Rivers's  coffin 
he  had  seen,  in  the  vault  of  the  little, 
Norman  church,  only  this  morning.  The 


224     The  Gate/ess  Barrier 

dust  lay  thick  on  it.  For  more  than  half  a 
century  it  had  reposed  there  undisturbed ; 
whereas  his  uncle,  Montagu  Rivers,  died  but 
last  night ! 

Yet  even  while  he  thus  reasoned,  the  scene 
suffered  change.  All  around  him  was  the 
roar  of  cannon  ;  and  beneath  him  the  scream- 
ing of  two  ships,  grinding  into  one  another, 
side  to  side,  upon  the  lift  and  fall  of  the 
Atlantic,  where  the  sea  grows  short  towards 
Gibraltar  and  the  Straits.  They  screamed, 
those  ships,  as  fighting  stallions  scream  —  a 
fierce  and  terrible  sound.  And  all  their  decks 
were  slippery  with  blood,  through  which  half- 
naked  men  ran  red-footed,  or  falling,  wallowed, 
while  the  yell  of  battle  went  up  hoarse  from 
many  hundred  throats.  The  white  sails,  torn 
and  streaming,  were  dyed  wild,  lurid  colours 
by  the  flash  of  musketry  and  up-rolling 
volumes  of  smoke  from  the  heavy  guns.  It 
was  as  hell  let  loose.  Yet  discipline  pre- 
vailed, as  did  a  desperate  and  persistent 
purpose,  through  all  the  tumult  and  slaughter. 
Laurence  himself  felt  cool,  light-hearted  even, 
as  he  shouted  orders  and  rallied  his  men  in  no 
mild  language.  His  courage  was  high  and 


The  Gateless  Barrier    225 

his  life  strong  in  him.  He  laughed,  notwith- 
standing the  murderous  noise,  the  sickening 
and  brutal  sights.  But,  to  his  fury,  just  in 
the  turn  of  the  engagement,  when  victory 
seemed  assured  at  last,  he  felt  a  shattering 
blow  at  the  top  of  his  chest,  and  the  blood 
welled  up  from  his  pierced  lungs,  and  all  the 
world  about  him  grew  black.  He  staggered 
back  against  the  splintered  bulwarks,  putting 
his  left  hand  upon  the  thin  packet  of  letters 
buttoned  inside  his  uniform  against  his  heart, 
and  called  aloud  —  "  Agnes,  Agnes." 

And  out  of  the  blackness  a  sweet  voice, 
speaking  as  from  some  far  distance,  answered, 
crying  —  "  Laurence,  Laurence  "  —  in  accents 
of  tremulous  but  very  exquisite  joy.  Then 
within  his  palm  he  felt  once  more  that  just 
perceptible  pulsation,  as  of  the  fluttering  wings 
of  a  captive  butterfly ;  while,  in  the  ghostly 
twilight  still  glimmering  in  through  the  great 
bay-window,  he  beheld  the  slender  form  and 
rose-red,  silken  dress  of  his  sweet  fairy-lady, 
there,  close  at  his  side. 


XVIII 

FOR  some  moments  the  young  man 
dared  not  move.  The  anguish  of  his 
shattered  ribs,  the  choking  up-rush  of 
blood  from  his  lungs,  was  so  present 
to  him,  that  he  turned  deadly  faint.  By 
degrees  he  realised  that  all  these  sensations 
were  illusory  ;  or  rather  memory  of  that  which 
had,  long  ago,  befallen  him.  Then  he  asked 
himself — was  the  cry  which  had  just  now 
answered  his  cry  illusory,  a  matter  of  memory, 
likewise  ?  This  he  must  ascertain.  He  be- 
gan speaking  slowly  and  softly ;  and  the 
conviction  of  his  identity  with  that  other 
Laurence  Rivers,  his  namesake,  was  so  com- 
plete, that  in  speaking  as  he  did  he  had  no 
sense  of  practising  any  deceit  upon  his  hearer. 

"  Agnes,"  he  said,  "  do  you  remember  the 
summer  morning  when,  like  a  lazy  fellow,  I 
fell  asleep  under  the  lime-trees,  and  how  you 
came  to  me  just  as  I  woke  up,  and  how  we 
spoke  to  one  another,  and  how  my  brother 
Dudley  interrupted  our  conversation." 

A  pause  followed,  during  which  he  listened 
with  almost  feverish  anxiety,  looking  up  into 


The  Gateless  Barrier     227 

the  sweet,  dimly-seen  face.  Was  it  possible 
that  she  had  already  gained  in  physical  attri- 
butes and  powers  to  the  point  of  audible 
speech  ?  He  almost  prayed  it  might  be  so ; 
and  yet  what  tremendous  issues  such  devel- 
opment opened  up  ! 

At  last  the  low,  far-away  voice  began  to 
answer  him.  The  words  came  lispingly,  at 
first,  with  a  pathetic  effort  and  hesitancy.  It 
was  as  the  utterance  of  a  baby  child  but  just 
learning  to  articulate. 

"  How  could  I  fail  to  remember  that  morn- 
ing, since  the  joy  of  it  proved  the  prelude  to 
the  sorrow  of  your  departure  ?  " 

Laurence  could  barely  control  his  excite- 
ment; but  he  just  managed  to  remain  very 
still  and  to  continue  speaking  slowly  and 
softly. 

"Was  that  so?"  he  said.  "I  had  for- 
gotten." 

"  Surely  it  was  so,"  she  answered.  "  For 
Dudley  brought  you  the  orders,  which  had 
just  been  delivered  by  a  despatch-rider,  re- 
quiring your  immediate  return  to  your  ship." 

"  Yes,  yes  —  of  course.  I  begin  to  recol- 
lect," he  rejoined.  "  Lord  Nelson  had  news 


228     The  Gateless  Barrier 

of  the  whereabouts  of  the  French  fleet,  and  we 
put  to  sea  at  a  few  hours'  notice.  Recollect, 
dear  me,  I  should  rather  think  I  did  !  It  was 
an  awful  rush  to  get  one's  kit  together,  and  get 
through,  and  there  was  no  end  of  a  bother 
about  post-horses/' 

Laurence  rose  to  his  feet.  It  was  impossible 
to  him  to  sit  still  any  longer.  This  strange 
awakening  of  memory,  and  the  miracle  of  his 
sweet,  phantom  companion's  recovered  speech, 
moved  him  too  deeply.  He  went  across  to 
the  escritoire. 

"  Come  here,  Agnes,"  he  said.  "  I  want  to 
look  at  you.  I  must  see  you  clearly.  And  I 
—  I  want  you  to  look  at  me.  Come." 

While  speaking  he  struck  a  match,  and 
lighted,  first  the  tall  wax  candles  standing  upon 
the  escritoire,  and  then  those  in  the  candela- 
bra upon  the  chimney-piece.  Beheld  in  their 
mellow  light,  the  room  assumed  a  more  than 
ever  familiar  and  friendly  aspect.  Laurence 
felt  that  he  was  at  home  —  at  home,  con- 
sciously, and  with  a  security  and  content  upon 
him  such  as  he  had  never  experienced  before. 
It  was  singularly  pleasant  to  feel  thus.  Mov- 
ing back  he  stood  in  front  of  the  slender,  rose- 


The  Gateless  Barrier    229 

clad  figure.  His  manner  was  serious,  though 
very  gentle,  and  his  voice  somewhat  broken 
by  the  emotion  under  which  he  laboured. 

"  See,  I  have  opened  your  little  treasure- 
chest  for  you,"  he  said.  "  And  I  have  read 
your  dear  letters  —  that  constituted  no  breach 
of  faith,  or  act  of  presumption,  considering  how 
often  I  have  read  them  already.  I  have  put 
everything  carefully  back  in  its  place,  save  our 
two  miniatures,  which  lie  here  side  by  side.  I 
tell  you  honestly,  I  am  perplexed.  I  can't  fit 
in  the  bits  of  the  puzzle,  or  piece  out  the  story 
as  yet ;  but  that,  to  my  mind,  does  n't  matter 
very  much.  For  we  are  here  together,  once 
again,  you  and  I." 

He  shifted  the  position  of  the  candles  so 
that  their  full  light  should  fall  upon  her. 

"  Now  let  me  look  at  you,"  he  said. 

And  as  he  looked  his  eyes  grew  somewhat 
moist,  for  he  perceived  that  which  he  had 
blindly  desired,  blindly  sought  all  his  days, 
that  which  had  been  as  an  ache  at  his  heart 
even  in  his  gayest  hours,  because  he  needed  it 
and  had  it  not  —  though  he  had  had  no  knowl- 
edge of  what  indeed  it  was  he  needed  —  now 
stood  visibly  before  him.  Sweet  phantom, 


230     The  Gateless  Barrier 

old-time  love,  exquisite  companion  —  having 
found  her,  how  could  he  ever  again  let  her  go  ? 
Listening  to  her  pretty,  halting  speech  the 
flattering  belief  had  once  more  grown  strong  in 
him  that  he  had  the  power  —  had  he  also  the 
will  —  to  restore  her  to  complete  and  living 
womanhood.  The  ambition  of  so  doing  pos- 
sessed him  with  redoubled  force  ;  and  the  love 
of  her,  rooted  so  deeply  in  that  mysterious 
former  life  and  former  personality  of  his,  pos- 
sessed him  too.  Considerations  of  right  and 
wrong,  of  duty,  even  of  honour,  he  brushed 
aside.  The  peace  and  content  of  the  present, 
the  daring  effort,  the  triumph  and  delight  of 
the  future  should  that  effort  succeed,  rendered 
him  callous  to  all  things  beside.  Then  a 
touch  of  self-distrust  took  him.  Did  he  pl&ase, 
as  he  was  pleased  ?  He  wondered. 

"Agnes,"  he  asked  her  almost  wistfully, 
"  tell  me,  have  I  changed  very  much  ? " 

Her  eyes,  which  had  grown  somewhat  shy 
beneath  his  searching  scrutiny,  regained  their 
serenity.  She  replied  more  readily,  and  in 
more  assured  accents,  while  a  gentle  playful- 
ness was  perceptible  in  her  bearing. 

"  You   appear  older,"  she  said  ;  but  I  will 


The  Gateless  Barrier     231 

not  reproach  you  with  that,  since  I  think  you 
have  matured  in  character  rather  than  greatly 
increased  in  years.  I  could  fancy  you  taller, 
were  not  such  a  supposition  absurd.  The 
fashion  of  your  clothes  is  much  altered  —  you 
affect  very  sober  colours  now." 

But  suddenly  her  expression  changed.  A 
wide-eyed,  haunting  sadness  came  back  into 
her  lovely  face,  and  she  spread  abroad  her 
hands  in  mingled  apology  and  appeal. 

"Ah!  indeed,"  she  cried,  "I  fear  a  long, 
long  period  has  elapsed  during  my  illness  and 
alienation  of  mind.  You  have  had  time  and 
to  spare  in  which  to  grow  older,  to  acquire 
new  habits  of  thought,  perchance  —  but  that 
idea  I  cannot  tolerate  —  to  form  fresh  ties.  I 
bitterly  deplore  my  weakness,  but  they  assured 
me  of  your  death.  Their  purpose  was  not 
cruel,  I  am  sure ;  but  when  I  refused  to 
believe  their  statements,  your  brother  Dudley 
and  Mrs.  Lambart  sent  for  our  rector,  Mr. 
Burkinshaw,  to  talk  with  me  and  preach  resig- 
nation. He  preached  to  deaf  ears,  poor  man  ! 
How  could  I  be  resigned  to  see  all  the  joy  of 
my  life  cut  down  as  grass  under  the  sweep  of 
a  scythe  ?  I  did  not  believe  them,  yet  their 


232     The  Gateless  Barrier 

reiterated  assertions  so  worked  on  me  that 
they  killed  hope  in  me,  and,  in  so  doing,  killed 
reason  likewise.  Yet  in  my  heart  of  hearts, 
Laurence,  I  have  always  known  that  you 
would  come  again." 

She  clasped  her  hands  high  on  her  bosom 
and  smiled  upon  him. 

"And  you  have  come,  oh!  my  love,"  she 
said  ;  "  you  have  come  !  " 

"  Yes,  in  good  truth,"  he  answered,  while  a 
sense  of  fear  took  him  —  "I  have  come." 

For  he  was  filled  with  pity  and  with  wonder 
concerning  the  end  of  this  adventure ;  while 
her  innocent  passion  softened  his  whole  nature 
to  a  great  tenderness,  as  the  sun  softens  the 
frozen  earth  in  spring.  Then  he  held  out  his 
hand  to  her  in  invitation,  and  led  her  across  to 
the  brocade-covered  sofa,  set  corner-wise  be- 
tween the  piano  and  the  fireplace,  and  for  a 
while  they  both  remained  silent,  sitting  there 
side  by  side.  And  as  the  minutes  slid  away, 
the  young  man's  fears  departed,  and  content 
returned  to  him.  It  was  so  natural  to  sit  with 
her  thus  !  Yet  his  content  had  an  underlying 
pathos  in  it,  since  their  situation — his  and  hers — 
though  immediately  happy  was  so  very  strange. 


The  Gateless  Barrier     233 

At  last  he  asked  her :  —  "  Did  you  know 
me  from  the  first?  " 

And  she  replied  with  an  air  of  gracious 
diffidence  infinitely  engaging  :  — "  I  can  hardly 
tell  you.  For  so  long  confusion  has  reigned 
in  my  poor  mind  that  all  had  become  to  me 
vague  and  undetermined.  I  was  so  very  tired 
that  even  that  which  I  most  craved,  I,  in  a 
measure,  shrank  from.  I  seemed  to  wander 
everlastingly  in  blank  and  desolate  places.  I 
seemed  to  move  in  an  interspace  between  the 
confines  of  two  worlds,  to  neither  of  which 
could  I  gain  admittance.  I  could  not  go  for- 
ward, neither  could  I  go  back.  Everything 
baffled  me ;  everything  was  so  difficult  to 
understand." 

"  But  now  you  have  left  those  blank  and 
desolate  places  ?  Now  you  understand  ?  " 
Laurence  asked,  keenly  interested  in,  yet  a 
little  dreading  her  answer. 

"  I  think  so.  Still  joy  has  been  too  long  a 
stranger,  for  me  wholly  to  trust  it  even  yet. 
And  I  fear  there  are  still  lapses  and  deficien- 
cies in  my  intelligence.  I  could  fancy  —  but 
doubtless  these  are  but  silly  fancies,  born  of 
illness  —  that  I  am  not  as  I  used  to  be,  and 


234     The  Gateless  Barrier 

that  I  feel  the  miss  of  much  I  once  had  and 
now  have  not." 

She  looked  up  at  him,  her  eyes  troubled 
o/i ce  more  to  their  very  depths. 

"  In  what  am  I  lacking,  Laurence  ?  "  she 
inquired  piteously.  "  I  feel  that  I  am  lacking, 
and  I  tremble  lest  I  should  disappoint  you. 
Indeed,  I  will  strive  to  remedy  my  fault,  what- 
ever it  may  be,  if  you  will  but  be  patient  with 
me  and  tell  me  plainly  of  it,  and  give  me 
opportunity  to  effect  a  cure." 

But  he  answered  her  soothingly,  stung  by 
the  humility  and  innocence  of  her  attitude. 

"  You  are  wanting  in  nothing  that  time  will 
not  set  right.  But  we  must  make  haste  slowly, 
sweetheart.  So  put  all  these  sick  fancies  out 
of  your  head.  We  will  worry  neither  about 
past  or  future  ;  but,  like  true  economists,  will 
enjoy  the  present.  Now  let  us  talk  of  the 
time  before  I  left  you  to  rejoin  my  ship.  Of 
that  other  melancholy  time,  after  I  left  you 
and  before  I  came  back,  and  of  the  changes  it 
has  brought  along  with  it,  we  will  talk  some 
other  day  —  I  trust  there  are  many  days  for 
us  ahead." 

And  so  they  remained  speaking  of  the  inci- 


The  Gateless  Barrier    235 

dents  of  that  mysterious  former  life,  of  which 
Laurence's  recollection  became  momentarily 
more  circumstantial  and  coherent  —  speaking 
of  little  things,  merry  and  tender,  such  as 
lovers  love — until,  more  than  once,  gusts 
of  gentle  laughter'  swept  through  the  yellow 
drawing-room,  which,  for  such  a  length  of 
years,  had  been  empty  of  all  sound  of  human 
mirth.  And  not  until  the  rose-red  fingers 
of  the  dawn  —  in  colour  matching  his  fairy- 
lady's  rose-red  gown  —  first  touched  the 
eastern  sky  above  the  dome  of  the  lime  grove 
and  the  broken  outline  of  the  woods,  did 
Laurence  and  Agnes  Rivers  cease  to  talk. 
Then  she  got  up  from  her  place  in  pretty 
haste. 

"Ah!"  she  said,  smiling,  "I  must  go. 
Good  Mrs.  Lambart  will  reprove  my  indis- 
cretion in  having  remained  here  so  late." 

But  Laurence  was  bound  to  ask  her  one 
question,  which  had  been  in  his  mind  during 
the  whole  course  of  their  interview,  yet  had 
not  so  far  dared  put  to  her. 

"  Tell  me,"  he  said,  "  I  waited  for  you  — 
why  did  you  not  meet  me  here  last  night  ?  " 

"  Ah  !  "  she  replied,  "  do  not  let  us  closely 


236     The  Gate/ess  Barrier 

inquire  into  that.  Something  terrible  was 
abroad  in  the  house.  I  think  it  was  the 
Shadow  of  Death.  It  stood  between  us  — 
or  I  dreamed  it  did  so.  —  But  we  fought 
against  it.  We  conquered  it  —  at  least  I 
dreamed  that  we  did.  And  it  is  gone.  —  But 
now,  dear  love,  indeed  I  too  must  go.  Good- 
night, or  rather  good-morrow.  Carry  happy 
thoughts  away  with  you,  even  as  I  do,  to 
sweeten  rest." 

And,  without  more  ado,  she  flitted  across 
the  room,  as  though  her  little  feet  in  their 
diamond-powdered  slippers  could  not  go 
soberly,  but  must  dance  for  very  joy,  and, 
passing  behind  the  tall  escritoire,  Laurence 
once  again  was  aware  that  she  had  disappeared 
and  left  no  trace. 


1 


XIX 

disposition  of  Montagu  Rivers's 
property  proved  —  as  Mr.  Wormald 
had  already  advised  Laurence  it 
would  prove  —  of  a  simple  and 
straightforward  description.  All  the  servants 
connected  with  the  house  and  stables  would 
receive  a  couple  of  years'  wages.  Lowndes, 
the  valet,  would  in  addition  draw  a  substantial 
pension.  Outside  these  provisions,  Laurence 
inherited  wholly  and  solely.  A  single  clause 
in  the  brief  will  revealed  somewhat  of  the 
eccentric  character  of  its  maker.  Mr.  Rivers 
directed  that  within  forty-eight  hours  of  his 
reported  death  a  London  surgeon  of  acknowl- 
edged eminence  should  use  means  to  ascertain, 
beyond  all  possibility  of  doubt,  that  death 
had  veritably  and  indeed  taken  place.  He 
further  directed  that  Armstrong,  the  agent, 
and  a  local  practitioner  who  had  attended  him 
at  intervals  during  his  illness,  should  be 
present  at  this  rather  ghastly  demonstration. 
It  was  added  that  the  corpse  should  receive 
Christian  burial  not  less  than  twenty-four 
hours  after  the  autopsy  had  been  carried  out. 


238     'The  Gateless  Barrier 

The  clause  concluded  with  the  following 
words :  — 

"  I  desire  these  measures  to  be  taken  — 
childish  and  superstitious  though  they  may 
appear — as  a  precaution  against  that  hap- 
pening, in  my  own  case,  which  would  appear 
to  have  happened  in  the  case  of  a  former 
inhabitant  of  Stoke  Rivers." 

The  eminent  surgeon  in  question,  hastily 
summoned  from  amid  a  press  of  work,  could 
spare  but  one  evening  for  his  visit.  He 
proved  to  be  a  courtly  and  agreeable  person, 
an  amateur  of  the  fine  arts,  with  a  turn  for 
copper-plate  engravings,  a  weakness  for  Italian 
ivories,  and  an  enthusiasm  for  antique  and 
renaissance  gems.  His  work  in  the  death- 
chamber  accomplished,  he  readily  turned  his 
attention  to  more  pleasing  investigations  ;  and 
during  the  hour  after  dinner,  before  the 
coming  of  the  carriage  to  take  him  to  catch 
the  up-express  at  Stoke  Rivers  Road,  he 
examined  the  contents  of  certain  glass  cases 
in  the  library,  and  looked  at  the  engravings 
hanging  in  the  lower  corridor. 

"  I  little  imagined,  when  I  left  town  this 
afternoon,"  he  said,  addressing  Laurence  with 


The  Gateless  Barrier     239 

a  peculiarly  charming  smile,  "  that  such  delec- 
table entertainment  was  in  store  for  me.  I  am 
proud  of  my  profession  —  no  man  more  so  ; 
but  I  am  not  sorry  to  put  it  aside  for  a  time 
and  forget  injury  and  disease,  and  even  suc- 
cessful dealing  with  them,  in  favour  of  art. 
This  collection  of  your  uncle's,  though  not 
large,  is  remarkable.  It  reflects  great  credit 
upon  his  judgment  and  taste.  It  contains 
absolutely  no  rubbish,  hardly,  indeed,  a  single 
object  which  it  would  be  just  to  qualify  as 
second-rate.  —  Ah  !  here  is  another  admirable 
thing,  though  less  in  my  line  than  those 
delightful  gems. 

The  two  men  had  reached  the  end  of  the 
corridor,  and  the  doctor  paused  in  front  of 
the  tapestry  curtain. 

"  This  is  a  very  fine  example,"  he  continued, 
"though  I  could  not,  offhand,  be  sure  of  the 
date.  How  broad  and  yet  how  harmonious 
in  colouring !  Just  a  trifle  broad  in  subject, 
too,  perhaps ;  but  our  forefathers  were  blessed 
or  cursed  —  I  am  often  at  a  loss  to  decide 
which  —  with  a  more  robust  taste  in  sentiment 
than  ourselves.  A  witty  modern  writer  has 
spoken  of  c  the  saving  grace  of  coarseness.' 


240     The  Gateless  Barrier 

There  have  been  times  when  I  have  been 
tempted  to  endorse  his  phrase." 

As  he  spoke,  he  laid  hold  of  the  edge  of 
the  curtain. 

"  Dear  me,  how  singularly  weighty  !  "  He 
looked  at  his  host  quickly,  inquiringly,  and 
with  heightened  interest.  "  Singularly  weighty," 
he  repeated.  "  This  house  enjoys  a  reputation 
for  a  certain  originality,  I  understand.  Would 
it  be  indiscreet  to  inquire  to  what  this  splen- 
did portiere  either  gives,  or  denies,  access  ? " 

Just  for  a  moment  Laurence  hesitated,  star- 
ing his  guest  very  full  in  the  face.  So  far 
this  new  acquaintance  had  interested  him 
greatly.  His  conversation  had  been  refresh- 
ingly varied ;  moreover,  Laurence,  in  listening 
to  it,  had  become  increasingly  and  pleasingly 
impressed  with  the  value  and  distinction  of 
his  lately  acquired  possessions.  He  recognised 
a  steadiness  and  sanity  in  the  great  surgeon's 
outlook  ;  an  appreciation  of  things  rare  and 
beautiful,  combined  with  a  wisdom  born  of 
wide  practical  experience  ;  a  large  compassion, 
too,  for  the  foibles,  and  sufferings,  and  sins 
of  poor  human  nature,  unembittered  by  any 
flavour  of  contempt.  And  so  it  happened 


The  Gateless  Barrier    241 

that,  during  that  moment  of  hesitation,  Lau- 
rence was  sorely  disposed  to  lay  bare  to  this 
man  —  whom  he  would  in  all  probability 
never  meet  again  —  the  abnormal  situation  in 
which  he,  at  the  present  time,  found  himself. 
If  any  one  could  grasp  that  situation,  and 
deal  with  it  at  once  justly  and  sympathetically, 
he  thought  this  man  could  do  so ;  since  he 
appeared  to  have  passed  the  limits  of  denial 
and  scepticism,  and  reached  that  composure 
and  poise  of  mind  wherein  revolt  ceases  and 
the  capacity  of  acceptance  and  belief  becomes 
almost  unlimited.  But  —  perhaps  unfortu- 
nately —  Laurence  put  the  inclination  towards 
free  speech  from  him  as  a  temptation.  Was 
he  not  bound  by  his  promise  to  the  dead  ? 
He  was  bound  still  more,  perhaps,  by  personal 
pride.  It  appeared  to  him  free  speech  would 
be  a  yielding,  a  weakness ;  so  he  answered 
suavely,  yet  with  a  sufficient  loftiness  to  leave 
no  room  for  further  question  — 

"Behind  the  curtain  is  that  which,  in- 
directly, has  procured  me  the  great  pleasure 
of  receiving  you  here  to-day." 

As  he  spoke  he  turned,  and  led  the  way  in 
the  direction  of  the  hall  again. 

10 


"The  Gateless  Barrier 


"  I  'm  uncommonly  glad,"  he  added,  "  that 
you  have  such  a  high  opinion  of  my  uncle's 
little  collection.  Perhaps  it  may  induce  you 
to  come  down  here  again  sometime,  from 
Saturday  to  Monday,  and  overhaul  the  con- 
tents of  these  cases  at  your  leisure.  I  am 
afraid  I  'm  a  bit  of  a  barbarian,  and  don't 
reckon  with  them  as  reverently  as  I  ought. 
I  am  a  good  deal  better  up  in  the  points  of 
polo  ponies  than  in  those  of  Popes'  rings,  I 
know." 

"That  is  no  matter  for  regret,"  the  doctor 
replied,  in  his  most  courtly  manner.  "  My 
esteem  for  the  barbarian  increases  rather  than 
diminishes  as  I  grow  older.  And  I  never 
forget  that  these  delicacies  of  art  are,  after  all, 
the  refuge  of  those  who  have  outlived  or 
injured  their  digestion  of,  and  appetite  for, 
simpler  and  more  wholesome  diet.  Such 
dyspeptics  are  to  be  commiserated  rather  than 
commended.  As  long  as  the  romance  of 
sport  and  travel  holds  you,  as  long  as  you 
still  Move  the  bright  eyes  of  danger,'  you  can 
very  well  afford  to  leave  the  consolations 
offered  by  gems,  and  ivories,  and  such  like 
sweepings  from  the  ruins  of  departed  civilisa- 


The  Gateless  Barrier     243 

tions,  to  the  physically  and  emotionally 
decrepit." 

He  shrugged  his  shoulders. 

"Ah,  youth,"  he  said,  "immortal  youth, 
and  the  rather  savage  joys  of  it !  —  I  con- 
gratulate you  far  more  profoundly  upon 
the  possession  of  these,  and  upon  the  mag- 
nificent health  which  I  cannot  but  perceive 
to  be  yours,  than  upon  your  extremely  in- 
teresting house  and  both  its  seen "  • —  he 
paused,  looking  rather  hard  at  Laurence  and 
smiling — "and  unseen  treasures.  —  A  cigar? 
Yes,  thanks,  I  think  I  will  permit  myself  that 
indulgence  on  my  way  down  to  the  station.  — 
But  to  return  to  my  contention.  Remember 
we  only  take  to  sweet-sop  when  our  teeth  are 
no  longer  sound  enough  for  ship's  biscuit. 
.  Eat  ship's  biscuit  and  relish  it  just  as  long 
as  a  merciful  Providence  permits  you  to  do 
so,  my  dear  young  gentleman.  The  days  of 
sweet-sop,  of  the  armchair,  of  what  we  arc 
pleased  to  call  *  the  judicial  attitude  of  mind,' 
but  which  is  really  nothing  save  the  natural 
consequence  of  a  sluggish  and  defective  circu- 
lation, will  come  all  too  soon  in  any  case. 
Adieu  to  you  —  " 


244     The  Gateless  Barrier 

A  flash  of  carriage  lamps  at  the  open  hall 
door,  the  two  men-servants  —  restored  to 
their  habitual  correctness  of  bearing  —  armed 
with  rugs,  greatcoat,  and  narrow  leather  bag 
of  slightly  sinister  aspect  —  the  snort  of  a 
horse  in  the  night  air,  fresh  from  the  comfort- 
able warmth  of  the  stable  —  and,  after  further 
farewells,  Laurence  went  back  into  the  hot, 
bright,  silent  house. 

"  No  one  need  sit  up,  Renshaw,"  he  said 
to  the  waiting  butler.  "  I  shall  watch  in 
Mr.  Rivers's  room  alone  to-night." 

For  this  was  to  be  a  night  of  abstinence, 
so  the  young  man  had  decided,  from  the  dear 
sight  of  his  fairy-lady  and  the  delight  of  her 
miraculously  recovered  speech.  He  had  a 
duty  to  perform  to  the  dead  man,  lying  soli- 
tary upstairs  —  though  hardly  more  solitary 
now,  than  during  the  long  years  past  in  which 
he  had  repudiated  all  solace  of  human  affec- 
tion. To  Laurence  himself  life  had  become 
almost  terribly  well  worth  living  since  he  had 
set  foot  in  Stoke  Rivers  little  more  than  a 
week  ago;  and  it  was  to  this  man,  of  cold 
and  narrow  nature,  that,  after  all,  he  owed  this 
notable  enlargement  of  interests  and  oppor- 


'The  Gateless  Barrier     245 

tunity  —  not  to  mention  those  material  advan- 
tages of  houses,  lands,  and  costly  furnishings 
which  had  come  to  him.  Gratitude  was  very 
much  in  place ;  and  it  seemed  to  him  that 
a  silent  vigil  in  that  stately  bed-chamber 
would  be  only  fitting,  both  as  an  act  of  piety, 
and  as  testimony  to  the  gratitude  now  no 
longer  permitted  expression  either  in  spoken 
word  or  kindly  act.  Nor  could  Laurence 
help  hoping  that  during  those  solemn  hours 
he  might  arrive  at  a  clear  determination  re- 
garding the  future  —  ceasing  merely  to  drift 
passive  and  acquiescent  to  the  push  of  cir- 
cumstance, as  a  rudderless  boat  to  the  push 
of  the  tide.  He  would  direct  his  own  course, 
be  master  of  his  own  action,  prepared  to  take 
—  for  good  or  ill  —  all  the  consequences  that 
action  might  involve.  For,  all  the  while  — 
and  it  was  worse  than  useless  to  shirk  remem- 
brance of  that  —  all  the  while,  across  the 
Atlantic,  under  the  bright  American  skies, 
bright  as  they,  immediate  and  modern  as  the 
civilisation  on  which  they  look  down,  was 
the  vivacious,  young,  society  beauty,  whom 
he  had  believed  he  loved,  whom  he  very 
certainly  had  married,  and  to  whom  —  in  the 


246     The  Gateless  Barrier 

opinion  of  both  her  world  and  his  own  —  his 
honour  anff  his  whole  future  stood  pledged. 
The  question  of  Virginia  —  for  the  whole 
situation  resolved  itself  fundamentally  into 
that  —  the  question  of  Virginia  must  be  reck- 
oned with,  and  the  results  of  such  reckoning 
accepted  once  and  for  all. 

He  had  not  visited  that  upstairs  room  since 
the  night  of  his  uncle's  death.  The  impres- 
sion then  received  of  the  furnace-like  fire, 
and  the  apparent  life  and  motion  of  those 
figures  of  enslaved  and  half-bestial  woman- 
hood supporting  the  bed,  were  still  present 
to  his  recollection.  But  now,  as  he  passed 
into  the  room,  he  found  the  change  worked 
there  very  arresting.  All  trace  of  that  which 
had  gone  forward,  earlier  in  the  evening, 
under  the  hands  of  the  eminent  surgeon,  had 
been  obliterated.  The  room  was  orderly, 
stately  as  ever ;  but  it  was  very  cold.  The 
hearth  was  swept  and  empty.  One  casement 
stood  wide  open,  and  by  it  entered  a  continu- 
ous breathing  of  bleak  wind.  A  single  electric 
burner  was  turned  on,  and,  in  the  low  steady 
light  shed  by  it,  the  carven  figures  of  the 
ebony  bed  offered  no  illusion  of  life  or 


The  Gateless  Barrier     247 

motion  ;  they  showed  rigid  as  the  long,  narrow 
body  they  guarded,  the  angular  outline  of 
which  was  perceptible  beneath  the  fine  linen 
sheet  —  upon  the  surface  of  which  sprigs  of 
rosemary  and  box  lay  scattered. 

Laurence  moved  across,  intending  to  turn 
back  the  upper  part  of  the  sheet  and  look  on 
the  face  of  the  dead ;  but  as  he  did  so  a  bent 
form  rose  silently  from  the  armchair,  set  at 
right  angles  to  the  fireless  hearth,  and  took  up 
its  position  on  the  far  side  of  the  bed  opposite 
to  him.  Though  by  no  means  addicted  to 
nervous  alarms,  Laurence  felt  a  chill  run 
through  him,  right  up  to  the  roots  of  his  hair. 
Was  it  conceivable  that  he  beheld  the  Umbra 
or  Corporeal  Soul,  of  which  Ovid  speaks,  and 
that  this  phantom  would  keep  watch  with  him 
over  its  own  unburied  corpse  during  the  com- 
ing hours  ?  His  sweet  fairy-lady  was  one 
thing,  and  this  quite  another,  in  the  line  of  dis- 
embodied spirits.  Stoke  Rivers,  apparently, 
was  not  a  comfortable  place  to  die  in.  Lau- 
rence registered  a  hasty  vow  that  he,  for  one, 
would  take  precious  good  care  to  arrange  to 
die  somewhere  else !  But  as  he  gazed,  some- 
what fearfully,  at  the  intruder,  it  declared  itself 


248     The  Gateless  Barrier 

pathetically  and  pitifully  human  —  nothing 
more  recondite,  indeed,  than  Lowndes,  the 
wiry,  long-armed,  grey-faced  valet. 

"  I  thought  it  proper  to  wait  till  you  should 
come,  sir,"  he  said,  under  his  breath.  "  Though 
Mr.  Rivers  has  no  need  of  my  services  now, 
I  have  attended  on  him  too  constantly  to  feel 
it  fitting  I  should  be  out  of  call."  —  His  voice 
quavered,  and  he  cleared  his  throat.  —  "He 
was  a  gentleman  that  rarely  praised,  sir.  Some 
might  have  thought  him  harsh ;  but  that  was 
because  his  mind  was  so  engaged  with  study. 
In  all  the  forty  years  I  waited  on  him,  he  never  -- 
gave  me  an  uncivil  word ;  and  it  is  not  many 
gentlemen  of  whom  you  can  say  that." 

He  lent  across,  carefully  removed  some 
sprigs  of  box  lying  high  on  the  sheet,  then 
folded  it  down  quickly  and  skilfully  across 
the  chest.  Laurence  was  aware  of  a  jealous 
devotion  in  his  attitude.  No  hands  save  his 
own  should  again  touch  his  dead  master.  But 
the  sheet  once  arranged  to  his  satisfaction,  he 
stepped  back,  a  pace  or  two,  into  the  shadow 
of  the  damask  curtains. 

Then  the  young  man  looked  long  and 
silently  upon  the  dead.  Notwithstanding  its 


The  Gateless  Barrier     249 

extreme  emaciation,  the  face  was  gentler  than 
in  life.  This  was  not  merely  owing  to  the 
closing  of  the  brilliant  eyes.  An  immense  calm 
rested  on  it.  The  hunger  of  the  intellect  was 
stayed  at  last;  and  the  face  was  majestic  in  its 
composure  —  the  face  of  one  who  has  passed, 
for  ever,  beyond  the  tyranny  of  desire.  Look- 
ing on  it,  Laurence  bowed  himself  reverently 
in  spirit,  while  the  conviction  rooted  itself  in 
him,  that  of  all  virtues  the  most  fertile,  the 
most  admirable,  is  courage.  For  the  weak, 
the  dismayed,  for  skulkers,  liars,  and  dastards, 
in  whatever  department  of  action  or  of  thought, 
there  is  small  hope  —  so  he  told  himself — 
either  here  or  hereafter.  The  battle  is  to  the 
strong;  and,  therefore,  to  be  strong  is  the  one, 
and  only  thing  which  really  signifies. 

And  then  it  came  to  him,  with  a  sense  of 
sudden  satisfaction,  that  this  most  desirable 
thing,  strength,  was  altogether  part  of  his  own 
inheritance,  did  he  choose  to  claim  it.  For 
the  first  time  he  appreciated  the  value  of  that 
strain  of  fanaticism  resident  in  his  blood.  He 
had  feared  it  a  little,  and  apologised  to  himself 
for  its  existence  heretofore.  He  had  made  a 
prodigious  mistake ;  for  now  that  strain  of 


250    The  Gateless  Barrier 

fanaticism  revealed  itself  as  among  the  most 
excellent  things  of  his  birthright.  He  re- 
mained motionless,  gazing,  no  longer  at  the 
carven  bed  and  its  rigid  burden,  but  away  to 
the  open  casement  —  in  at  which  came  the 
breathing  of  the  bleak  night-wind  —  his  head 
held  high,  and  a  singular  compression  about 
the  corners  of  his  mouth.  Virginia? — Just 
now  Virginia,  and  all  and  any  obligation  he 
might  have  contracted  towards  her,  went  for 
very  little.  He  stood  apart,  complete  in  him- 
self, regardless  of  custom,  regardless  even  of 
so-called  morality,  should  these  interfere  be- 
tween him  and  his  purpose.  His  sense  of  hu- 
mour in  regard  to  himself — humour,  eternal 
enemy  of  all  exaggerations  and  fixed  ideas  — 
was  in  abeyance.  He  knew  that,  knew  it  was 
dangerous.  But  then,  as  the  courtly  surgeon 
had  so  lately  reminded  him,  what  so  adorable, 
after  all,  as  those  same  "  bright  eyes  of  dan- 
ger "  —  let  danger  come,  how  and  when  it  may  ? 
—  Conventionalities  ?  He  bade  them  pack,  all 
the  sort  of  them.  Their  day  was  over.  The 
day  of  scruples  was  over  likewise.  His  posi- 
tion was  unexampled.  He  took  the  risks,  along 
with  the  joys,  of  it.  As  his  forefathers  had 


The  Gateless  Barrier     251 

been,  so  would  he  be.  He  felt  an  extraordi- 
nary exaltation  and  freedom  of  spirit.  And 
feeling  this  he  laughed  a  little,  just  as  he  had 
laughed  when  rallying  his  men  amid  the  roar 

O  J          O 

of  cannon  and  scream  of  the  grinding  ships,  in 
the  famous  sea-fight  off  the  southern  Spanish 
coast  at  Trafalgar. 

But  the  old  valet,  hearing  that  most  unex- 
pected, and  to  him  unseemly,  sound,  emerged 
from  the  discreet  shadow  of  the  damask  cur- 
tains and  stretched  his  long  arms  to  draw  the 
sheet  again  up  over  the  face  of  the  corpse. 

"  You  have  done,  sir  ?  "  he  asked  in  accents 
of  severity. 

"  No,"  Laurence  answered,  the  excitement 
of  his  thoughts  still  strong  upon  him  —  "I 
have  only  just  begun ;  but,  thank  God,  or 
devil,  or  what  you  will,  I  have  begun  at  last." 


1 


XX 

funeral  was  over.  Those  few 
gentlemen  of  the  neighbourhood  who 
had  felt  it  incumbent  upon  them  to 
appear  in  person,  had  departed.  So 
had  the  empty  broughams  of  their  more 
numerous  neighbours,  who  proposed  to  offer  a 
maximum  of  respect  to  the  dead  with  a  mini- 
mum of  trouble  to  themselves.  The  Arch- 
deacon also  had  started  on  his  homeward 
journey  to  Bishop's  Pudbury.  At  Mr.  Beal's 
earnest  entreaty  he  had  been  invited  by  Lau- 
rence Rivers  to  take  part  in  the  function.  The 
young  clergyman  had  been  sadly  exercised  by 
scruples  regarding  the  propriety  of  consigning 
the  mortal  remains  of  an  admitted  sceptic  and 
scoffer  to  the  grave,  with  words  of  Christian 
hope  and  blessing.  What  was  left  for  believers 
if  unbelievers  thus  benefited  ?  The  conscience 
of  his  superior  officer  was  happily  of  less  flabby 
texture. 

"  Charity  before  all  things,  my  dear  Walter," 
the  latter  had  said,  in  his  full,  sonorous  voice, 
when  the  ingenuous  young  man  had  unfolded 
his  difficulties.  "  It  is  not  for  you,  or  even 


'The  Gateless  Barrier     253 

for  me,  to  judge  and  condemn  a  fellow-creature. 
If  not  an  active  churchman,  remember  Mr. 
Rivers  displayed  no  leanings  towards  Rome  or 
any  other  schismatic  body.  For  this  we  must 
be  very  thankful.  There  are  occasions,  more- 
over, as  you  will  learn  in  time,  when  the 
purely  ecclesiastical  attitude  may  fitly  be  modi- 
fied by  the  knowledge  of  the  man  of  the 
world.  We  yield  no  point,  mark  you ;  but  we 
abstain  from  pressing  a  wrong  point  at  a  wrong 
time.  Judgment,  statesmanship  — therein  lies 
the  practical  application  of  the  sacred  injunc- 
tion, '  Be  ye  wise  as  serpents  and  harmless  as 
doves.'  To  raise  objections  in  the  present  case 
would  be  to  increase  rather  than  mitigate  the 
possibility  of  scandal  —  probably,  moreover, 
it  would  be  to  alienate  the  sympathies  of 
young  Mr.  Rivers.  We  must  learn  never  to 
sacrifice  the  future  to  the  present,  my  dear 
Walter.  To  do  so  is  to  fall  into  errors  of  mis- 
placed zeal  —  a  very  dangerous  thing.  Much, 
I  cannot  but  think,  may  be  done  with  young 
Mr.  Rivers.  Wisely  handled,  he  should  prove 
of  considerable  local  service  to  the  Church." 

So    the    good    young    man's    soul    received 
comfort. 


254     'The  Gateless  Barrier 

"  What  a  privilege  it  is  to  talk  with  you, 
sir  ! "  he  said.  "  I  always  learn  so  much." 

Last  to  go,  as  he  had  been  first  to 
arrive  at  Stoke  Rivers,  was  Captain  Bel- 
lingham. 

"  Poor  old  chap,  I  tell  you,  I  've  had  him 
very  much  on  my  mind,  Louise,  these  last 
few  days,"  he  had  said  to  his  wife,  that  morn- 
ing, at  breakfast.  "  It 's  only  decent  charity 
to  see  him  through.  I  hear  he 's  looking 
uncommonly  hipped.  You  thought  him 
rather  queer,  you  know,  the  day  he  had  lunch- 
eon here.  Mercy  for  him  the  old  gentleman 
died  as  soon  as  he  did  —  perfectly  mad,  too,  I 
hear,  and  an  infernal  temper.  It 's  enough  to 
make  any  one  jumpy  to  be  dancing  attendance 
on  such  a  deathbed  as  that  day  after  day  ;  and 
in  that  gloomy,  ghostly  house  too.  I  could  n't 
have  done  it,  I  know,  without  getting  most 
frightfully  broken  up.  We  must  try  to  get 
him  over  here  for  a  day  or  two.  Write  him 
a  nice  note,  will  you,  Louise ;  it  would  be 
awfully  good  of  you,  and  I  will  do  my  best  to 
bring  him  back  with  me  to-night.  Ought  to 
be  quiet  to-morrow,  I  suppose,  for  the  sake  of 
appearances  ;  but  the  day  after  let 's  have  Gen- 


T'he  Gateless  Barrier     255 

eral  Powys  and  the  Westons  to  dinner.  I 
want  to  rattle  him  up  a  bit." 

But  neither  Mrs.  Bellingham's  neatly- 
worded  note,  nor  her  husband's  hospitable 
entreaties,  moved  Laurence  Rivers.  He  had 
quite  other  fish  to  fry.  All  he  asked  for 
was  solitude  and  sunset ;  and  his  courtesy  was 
slightly  perfunctory  and  formal  in  consequence 
—  so  much  so,  indeed,  that  on  his  return  Jack 
Bellingham  remarked  to  his  wife :  — 

"  Rivers  always  was  such  a  good-hearted, 
sensible  sort  of  fellow,  that  it 's  hardly  likely 
coming  into  this  property  would  turn  his  head. 
He's  above  any  vulgarity  of  that  kind.  All 
the  same,  he  really  was  curiously  stand-offish 
to  everybody  to-day.  The  Archdeacon  meant 
to  make  an  afternoon  of  it,  and  was  a  little  bit 
huffed,  I  think.  Rivers  was  perfectly  civil, 
only  he  gave  us  pretty  clearly  to  understand 
there  was  no  call  for  any  of  us  to  dawdle.  I 
don't  know,  but  somehow  I  tell  you,  Louise, 
I  don't  quite  like  his  look.  We  shall  see. 
It  would  be  an  awful  pity  if  he  followed  in 
the  footsteps  of  the  late  lamented  and  turned 
out  a  crank." 

"  I     know    it,"    Mrs.     Bellingham    replied 


256     'The  Gateless  Barrier 

calmly.  "  But  you  omit  Virginia.  I  have 
never  seen  a  woman  less  likely  to  tolerate 
a  crank  as  her  husband  than  Virginia." 

And  so  at  length  the  accustomed  quiet 
settled  down  on  Stoke  Rivers.  Dinner  was 
over,  and  the  unwelcome  daylight  fairly  flown. 
Abstinence  had  gone  to  sharpen  the  edge  of 
hunger,  and  Laurence  made  his  way  down  the 
corridor,  pulled  the  curtain  towards  him,  and 
entered  the  room  of  mysterious  meetings  in  a 
humour  to  venture  much.  At  the  escritoire 
stood  his  fairy-lady,  and  at  the  sound  of  the 
closing  door  she  turned  and  extended  her  arms, 
a  world  of  delicate  welcome  in  her  gesture  and 
her  face.  Then,  as  he  came  towards  her,  she 
drew  back  a  little,  as  though  penitent  of  the 
fervour  of  her  greeting.  Her  lips  moved, 
but  no  sound  issued  from  them ;  and  a  quick 
fear  went  through  the  young  man  that,  through 
the  action  of  some  malign  influence,  she  had 
declined  upon  her  former  condition  and  once 
again  become  dumb.  This  raised  the  spirit 
of  battle  in  him,  and  reinforced  his  resolution 
to  effect  her  emancipation  from  the  control 
of  whatever  opposing  power  —  physical  or 
spiritual  —  might  hold  her  in  its  grasp.  The 


The  Gateless  Barrier    257 

more  so  that,  for  all  her  gladness,  there  was 
a  hint  of  trouble,  a  little  cloud  of  distress  upon 
her  face,  which  provoked  him  to  indignation. 
He  hated  that  —  be  it  what  it  might  —  which 
held  her  sweet  being  in  thrall. 

"  Agnes,  why  is  this  ?  Why  don't  you 
speak  to  me  ?  "  he  demanded. 

Whereat  she  smiled,  as  one  who  loves  yet 
deprecates  another's  unreasoning  heat. 

"  How  can  I  speak,"  she  asked,  "until  you 
have  first  spoken  to  me  ?  " 

"  But  why  not  ?  I  don't  understand,"  he 
said. 

"  Nor  I,"  she  answered ;  "  only  I  know  that 
so  it  is.  I  cannot  explain  the  why  and  where- 
fore of  this,  or  of  much  besides,  to  myself.  I 
am  to  myself  at  once  real  and  unreal  —  as  an 
echo,  a  shadow,  the  reflection  in  a  mirror,  is  at 
once  real  and  unreal." 

She  looked  at  him  seriously,  wonderingly, 
as  though  trying  to  take  counsel  with  him 
against  herself. 

"  I  see  with  your  eyes,  I  speak  with  your 
voice,  I  comprehend  with  your  mind  when 
you  are  present.  When  you  are  absent,  I 
become  as  the  echo  unevoked  by  any  sound, 

17 


258     The  Gateless  Barrier 

as  the  shadow  when  neither  sun  or  moon  look 
forth  to  cast  it,  as  the  reflection  in  the  mirror 
when  that  of  which  it  was  the  image  has  moved 
away.  Only  my  heart  remains  to  me ;  and  it, 
when  you  are  absent,  longs  and  searches,  jour- 
neying from  place  to  place,  formless,  wordless, 
and  blind,  sensible  only  of  its  own  infelicity, 
while  seeking  that  which  alone  can  bring  it 
ease  and  light." 

"  My  poor  love  ! "  Laurence  said  gently, 
greatly  moved;  "my  poor  love!" 

For  a  space  he  was  silent,  pondering  upon 
her  words,  almost  staggered  by  the  intensity 
of  her  innocent  passion.  He  was  not  worthy 
to  inspire  such  devotion.  Had  that  other 
Laurence  Rivers,  his  predecessor  and  name- 
sake, been  more  worthy,  he  wondered.  Shame 
covered  him  in  face  of  the  deception  he  was 
in  process  of  practising  upon  her.  But  he 
put  the  thought  of  that  from  him  fiercely. 
For  was  he  not  prepared  to  take  all  the  risks  ? 
Surely  his  action  was  justified  —  was  it  not  a 
work  of  mercy  to  rescue  and  restore  this  gentle 
and  homeless  ghost  ?  And  then,  since  the  air 
was  mild  and  the  young  moon  lent  an  added 
charm  to  the  formal  alleys  of  the  Italian  gar- 


The  Gateless  Barrier     259 

den,  Laurence,  hoping  thereby  both  to  allay 
his  own  perturbation  of  spirit  and  dissipate  the 
melancholy  which  still  sat  in  the  clear  depths 
of  Agnes  Rivers's  lovely  eyes,  engaged  her  to 
come  out,  once  more,  and  walk.  But  though 
the  charm  of  the  garden  was  great,  he  almost 
regretted  that  he  had  invited  her  to  leave  the 
shelter  of  the  house,  she  appeared  so  anxiously 
elusive  and  fragile  a  creature.  Watching  her, 
though  his  courage  was  stubborn  and  his  will 
fiercely  set,  the  task  he  had  undertaken  ap- 
peared hopeless  of  accomplishment.  But  if 
the  task  was  hopeless,  all  the  more  must  it 
be  fulfilled  —  that  had  been  the  way  of  his 
people,  and  henceforth  it  was  to  be  his  way. 
And  so  he  talked  to  her  with  a  certain  light- 
ness, looking  at  her  and  smiling. 

"  Are  you  happy,  Agnes  ?  "  he  asked  her  at 
last. 

And  she  answered  with  a  return  to  her  dain- 
tily demure  and  old-world  manner  — 

"  I  should,  indeed,  be  ungrateful  were  I  not 
so,  dear  Laurence.  Yet,  since  you  question 
me,  I  must  own  a  distrust  of  the  future  works 
a  black  thread  through  all  the  glad  pattern  of 
the  present." 


260     The  Gateless  Barrier 

She  paused,  glancing  back  somewhat  timidly 
at  the  house.  Every  window  of  it  was  lighted, 
save  those  of  Mr.  Rivers's  bed-chamber.  These 
last  were  dark  and  blank,  producing  an  arrest- 
ing effect,  and  recalling  to  Laurence  the  empty 
eye-sockets  of  the  crystal  memento  mori. 

"  You  are  here  with  me,"  she  continued, 
"  and  again  I  taste  happiness.  Yet  I  am  op- 
pressed by  the  persuasion  that,  as  before,  in 
some  hour  of  peculiar  promise  and  security  you 
will  be  called  from  my  side.  And  that  this 
time  —  ah  !  I  fear  you  may  justly  reproach  my 
weakness  and  deride  my  far-fetched  alarms  — 
this  time,  going,  you  will  not  return ;  or  re- 
turning, you  will  no  longer  find  me  here  to 
greet  you." 

"  Then  very  certainly  I  will  never  go  —  that 
is  unless  you  yourself  send  me,"  Laurence  said. 
He  walked  on  a  few  paces,  and  then  added, 
speaking  almost  sullenly,  answering  his  own 
thoughts  rather  than  her  words  —  "Thank 
Heaven,  I  am  my  own  master  at  last.  No  one 
can  compel  me.  I  can  do  as  I  think  fit;  and 
since  I  think  fit  to  stay,  stay  I  most  assuredly 
will,  here  among  my  own  people,  and  in  my 
own  house." 


The  Gateless  Barrier     261 

He  looked  at  his  companion,  instinctively 
desiring  to  read  approval  in  her  eyes ;  but  her 
expression  was  one  of  startled  inquiry. 

"  Forgive  me,"  she  said,  "  either  Mrs.  Lam- 
bart  has  omitted  to  tell  me,  fearing  to  shock 
me,  or  in  my  heedlessness  I  have  forgotten. 
Are  you  indeed  master  here,  dear  Laurence  ? 
How  is  that  ?  Can  it  be  that  your  brother 
Dudley  is  dead  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  he  answered,  "  the  old  order  has 
changed  —  and  yet  not  changed  perhaps  so 
very  much  after  all,  for  it  appears  the  owners 
of  Stoke  Rivers,  ancient  and  modern,  are  very 
much  of  one  blood.  But,  in  truth,  Dudley  is 
gone,  and  others  have  gone  —  God  rest  both 
him  and  them  —  and  I  reign  in  their  stead." 

"  Yes,  God  rest  his  soul,"  she  said  ;  and  then 
repeated  softly  — "  Poor  Dudley  1  poor  un- 
happy Dudley ! " 

But  Laurence,  noting  her  pensive  bearing, 
and  hearing  the  gently  regretful  tones  of  her 
voice,  was  pricked  pretty  sharply  by  a  point  of 
jealousy  from  out  the  long  past. 

"  Is  it  a  matter  of  so  very  much  grief  to  you, 
Agnes,"  he  asked,  "  to  hear  the  news  of  your 
cousin  Dudley's  death  ?  " 


262      The  Gateless  Barrier 

Whereupon  she  turned  on  him  eyes  very 
reassuringly  full  of  love  ;  while  —  after  a  little 
space  —  her  lips  curved  into  a  delicious  and 
almost  saucy  smile. 

"  Ah  !  I  feared  you  had  grown  old  and  wise," 
she  exclaimed.  "  I  was  foolish  to  vex  myself. 
I  see  you  are  indubitably  the  same  Laurence  as 
ever." 

She  laughed  very  sweetly,  sweeping  him  a 
delicate  curtsey. 

"  The  very  same  Laurence  as  ever,"  she  re- 
peated exultingly. 

Then  she  flitted  away  —  as  though,  child- 
like, joy  of  heart  must  needs  find  relief  in 
movement  —  down  the  long  alley  across  the 
oblique  shadows  cast  by  the  sentinel  cypresses, 
until  she  reached  the  great,  stone  basin  of  the 
terminal  fountain.  Here  she  paused,  gazing 
down  at  the  smooth,  slow  movements  of  the 
sleepless  fish. 

The  borders  on  either  side  the  walk  were  set 
out  with  bulbs  and  early  flowering  plants.  As 
yet  the  majority  of  these  showed  but  bud,  or 
upstanding  sheaths  of  leaf.  The  gilly-stocks 
only  were  fully  in  blossom.  The  clean,  homely 
fragrance  of  them  hung  in  the  still  air ;  but  the 


The  Gateless  Barrier     263 

moonlight  had  bleached  their  honest  orange 
and  russet  faces,  making  them,  like  all  else  of 
the  scene,  but  varying  degrees  of  light  and  dark. 
Alone  in  this  colourless  world,  frail  though  it 
was  and  ethereal,  had  the  sweet  figure  of  Agnes 
Rivers  retained  its  actual  hues.  The  brown  of 
her  hair,  the  warm  pallor  of  her  skin,  the  blue 
of  her  profound  and  now  laughing  eyes,  the  soft 
rose-red  of  her  silken  gown,  defied  the  chill  of 
the  moonlight.  And  this,  as  Laurence  moved 
towards  her,  deepened  alike  the  charm  and  the 
mystery  of  her  appearance.  It  captivated  his 
imagination.  It  stimulated  his  ambition.  It 
challenged  the  deep  places  of  his  love.  The 
hopeless  task  must  indeed  be  accomplished. 
The  impossible  must  come  to  pass.  Daring 
that  which  no  other  man  had  dared,  he  would 
earn  a  reward  such  as  no  other  man  had 
dreamed.  But  he  must  be  cautious,  and  dis- 
creet, and  very  gentle.  The  diplomatist,  for  a 
long  while  to  come,  must  hold  the  lover  in 
check  if  the  end  was  to  be  gained. 

And  just  then  Agnes  Rivers's  voice  broke 
into  a  little  song,  hardly  articulate,  but  clear 
and  instinct  with  delight,  even  as  the  songs  of 
birds,  very  early  in  spring,  when  pairing  time 


264     The  Gateless  Barrier 

has  but  just  begun.  Yet  enchanting  as  the 
tones  were,  there  was  in  them  something  remote 
and  beyond  the  compass  of  human  thought, 
piercing  the  young  man  to  the  very  heart,  so 
that  he  cried  to  her  — 

"  Ah  !  my  dear,  come  down,  come  near. 
Leave  your  singing,  it  is  too  sweet.  It  has  too 
much  to  do  with  spirit  and  too  little  with  flesh. 
It  cuts  like  a  knife.  There  —  there  —  I  am 
not  blaming  you,  God  forbid.  Only,  you  have 
lived  so  long  on  the  borderland  between  those 
two  worlds,  of  which  you  once  spoke,  that  you 
have  a  little  lost  touch  with  ordinary  mortals 
such  as  I.  Come  down,  come  near.  Don't 
you  see  what  I  mean  ?  Don't  you  know  what 
I  want?" 

And  after  gentle  converse,  when  that  morn- 
ing the  dawn  broke  and  with  words  of  tender 
farewell,  his  fairy-lady  crossed  the  yellow  draw- 
ing-room and  passed  at  the  back  of  the  out- 
standing satinwood  escritoire,  as  her  habit 
was,  it  appeared  to  Laurence  that,  for  the 
first  time,  a  faint  shadow  followed  her  little 
feet.  And  this  filled  him  with  great  and  far- 
reaching  hope  —  as  the  first  dim  greyness 
of  land  along  the  horizon  fills  the  sailor  after 


The  Gateless  Barrier     265 

long  voyaging  upon  the  open  'sea.  Never- 
theless, she  vanished  as  before,  leaving  him 
solitary,  while  of  the  manner  of  her  going 
there  remained  no  sign. 


XXI 

DAYS  multiplied  into  weeks,  March 
passed  into  April,  April  into  May, 
June  came  with  all  its  roses,  the 
lime-trees  flowered  once  again,  and 
the  scent  of  them  was  wafted  across  the  broad 
lawns  and  in  at  the  open  windows,  yet  Laurence 
stayed  on  at  Stoke  Rivers.  He  had  ceased 
to  apologise  for,  or  seek  to  justify  his  action. 
The  fanatical,  extravagant  element  of  his  char- 
acter was  fully  in  the  ascendant,  and  it  was 
conveniently  contemptuous  of  criticism.  He 
had  become  a  law  unto  himself.  He  stayed 
because  he  intended  to  stay  —  there  was  the 
beginning  and  end  of  the  matter.  Meanwhile, 
he  made  discovery  of  pleasures  subtle  and 
subjective,  hitherto  unimagined.  Living  the 
life  of  the  recluse,  the  enjoyed  that  sense  of 
inward  harmony  and  freedom  of  spirit  known 
only  to  those  who  dare  divorce  themselves  from 
society,  with  its  many  tyrannies,  and  from 
familiar  commerce  with  their  fellowmen.  He 
experienced  the  sensible  increase  of  will-power, 
and  the  mental  elation,  that  are  born  of  solitude, 
silence,  and  whole-hearted  devotion  to  a  single 


The  Gateless  Barrier    267 

idea.  The  values  shifted,  and  many  worldly 
matters,  many  amusements,  which  had  formerly 
appeared  to  him  of  vital  importance,  now  began 
to  appear  slightly  absurd.  He  ate  and  drank 
sparingly,  since  meat  and  liquor  tend  to  render 
the  action  of  the  brain  sluggish,  and  the  imagi- 
nation somewhat  gross.  His  dear  fairy-lady 
should  regain  the  completeness  of  her  hu- 
manity ;  but  he  would  fit  himself  to  meet  her 
half  way  on  her  mysterious  return  journey  from 
the  regions  of  the  dead,  by  purging  himself  of 
all  superfluous  animality. 

And  his  environment  lent  itself  to  these 
practices  and  experiments.  The  household 
had  settled  back  into  its  accustomed  decorum 
and  regularity.  It  asked  no  questions,  it 
obeyed  in  respectful  silence.  And,  if  certain 
tremors  shook  it  at  times  in  face  of  its  new 
master's  supposed  dealings  with  things  occult 
and  supernatural,  it  accepted  them  as  a  neces- 
sary part  of  its  service.  Indeed,  it  may  be 
questioned  whether  Lowndes,  the  grey-faced, 
long-armed  valet,  Renshaw,  and  Watkins, 
irreproachably  correct  of  demeanour,  would  not 
have  suffered  far  greater  inconvenience  and 
perturbation  had  they  been  called  upon  to 


268     The  Gateless  Barrier 

adapt  themseles  to  the  ordinary  ways  of  the 
ordinary,  English  country-gentleman.  Their 
pride  would  have  suffered  likewise,  since  eccen- 
tricity had  been  so  long  enthroned  in  their 
midst,  that  its  absence  would  have  seemed  a 
loss  of  -prestige^  a  regrettable  coming  down  in 
the  social  scale.  They  displayed  much  solici- 
tude for  Laurence's  comfort,  and  much  grim 
alacrity  in  turning  guests  from  his  door. 
Captain  Bellingham's  fears  that  his  friend 
might  develop  into  a  crank  appeared  to  be 
in  very  fair  road  to  fulfilment ;  but  the  house- 
hold rejoiced  silently  and  grimly  thereat. 

So  did  not  Armstrong,  the  shrewd  and 
kindly  Scotch  agent. 

"  Whether  the  place  induces  a  whimsicality 
in  the  family,  or  the  family  in  the  place,  I 
would  not  presume  to  declare,"  he  lamented 
one  day,  when  having  a  crack  with  a  trusted 
friend  and  fellow-countryman.  "  It  is  like  the 
matter  of  priority  between  the  owl  and  the  egg, 
a  hidden  thing,  transcending  human  wit.  But 
a  certain  impracticability  is  assuredly  bred  in 
their  bones,  poor  bodies,  which  needs  must 
eventually  come  out  in  the  flesh  of  every  one 
of  them.  They  're  over  proud  of  the  intelli- 


The  Gateless  Barrier     269 

gence  of  which  it  has  pleased  the  Almighty  to 
bestow  on  them  so  handsome  a  portion  —  as 
the  intelligence  of  Saxons  and  Southerners  go, 
you  understand.  And  being  puffed  up  with 
conceit  of  themselves  they  proceed  to  apply 
their  bit  of  unusual  reason  in  wild  and  impolitic 
speculations,  to  the  endangering  of  their  own 
and  other  persons'  peace  and  security.  A  sair 
pity,  a  sair  pity !  Not  that  I  would  deny 
degrees  in  the  natural  wrong-headedness  of  the 
poor,  misguided  creatures.  The  present  repre- 
sentative of  the  family  is  a  young  man  of  excel- 
lent parts  and  practical  ability ;  and  though 
I  fear  he  is  going  astray  in  some  particulars, 
I  find  in  him  a  praiseworthy  application  to 
business,  by  times." 

For  in  good  truth,  notwithstanding  the 
dominion  of  his  fixed  idea,  Laurence  was  deter- 
mined on  the  improvement  of  his  somewhat 
neglected  estate.  Every  afternoon  saw  him 
ride  forth  to  visit  farm  or  distant  hamlet,  to 
superintend  operations  of  fencing,  draining,  or 
building,  to  mark  wood  and  copse-land  for 
future  cutting.  Specially  was  he  interested  in 
the  construction  of  a  light  railway  from  Stoke 
Rivers  Road  to  some  gypsum  quarries  at 


270     The  Gateless  Barrier 

Hazledown,  about  three  miles  distant,  the 
worth  of  which  would  be  doubled  by  direct 
and  permanent  means  of  transport.  Silent  and 
self-absorbed  for  the  most  part,  he  rode  about 
the  charming  Sussex  country  while  the  gay, 
spring  weather  matured  into  the  glow  and  heat 
of  summer.  And  all  the  while  against  his 
heart  lay  the  poignant  delight  of  a  great 
romance,  and  in  his  eyes  sat  the  light  of  a 
great  adventure.  He  was  very  happy,  so 
happy  that,  while  he  longed  for  the  attainment 
of  his  purpose  and  strained  every  nerve  to 
accomplish  it,  he  almost  dreaded  that  accom- 
plishment since  it  must  rob  him  of  the  sweet 
and  gracious  present. 

And  that  such  accomplishment  drew  on  as 
the  summer  went  forward  he  could  not  doubt. 
For  his  fairy-lady  had  grown  less  timid  than 
of  old,  braving  now  the  earlier  dusk,  now  the 
later  dawn,  as  the  fancy  took  her ;  while  a  ver- 
itable shadow  clung  unquestionably  to  her 
little  feet,  and  lengthened  behind  or  beside  her. 
Though  no  less  slender  and  graceful  than 
before,  her  person  was  less  ethereal.  It  ap- 
peared to  gain  a  certain  substance,  a  greater 
opacity  ;  while  her  movements  were  more  meas- 


The  Gateless  Barrier     271 

ured.  Once  or  twice  Laurence  had  fancied  he 
saw  her  pale  face  flush  under  sudden  emotion, 
as  though  blood  once  more  began  to  course 
beneath  the  clear,  smooth  skin.  Her  talk, 
moreover,  was  less  of  the  past  than  of  the 
present.  At  times  she  would  ask  questions, 
not  wholly  easy  for  him  to  answer  without 
revealing  those  things  regarding  which  he  had 
agreed  with  himself  to  keep  silence.  But  on 
many  matters  he  had  come  to  speak  to  her 
freely,  telling  her  of  his  daily  occupations  and 
affairs,  of  the  books  he  read,  even  of  passing 
events  of  public  interest.  And  to  all  his  talk 
she  listened  now  thoughtfully,  now  with  pretty 
mirth,  offering  not  only  sympathy,  but  dis- 
creet counsel,  while  sometimes  a  touch  of  far- 
reaching  and  singularly  mature  wisdom  gave  a 
significant  value  to  her  speech.  There  were 
moments,  indeed,  when  Laurence  gazed  at  her 
in  wonder,  for  she  betrayed  a  depth  and  daring 
of  thought  impossible  to  a  young  girl,  however 
good  her  training  and  notable  her  natural 
talents  —  thought  only  possible  to  one  who 
had  discounted  the  many  subterfuges  and  illu- 
sions of  life,  as  most  mortals  see  and  live  it,  by 
apprehension  of  things  supramundane,  eternal, 


272     The  Gateless  Barrier 

and  so  of  infinite  moment  to  the  conscience 
and  the  heart. 

She  grew  in  womanhood,  and  she  grew  in 
the  charm  of  distinction  and  of  a  fine  equality. 
Yet  the  mystery  surrounding  her  was  to  Lau- 
rence in  no  wise  lessened.  For  he  began  to 
perceive  that,  if  he  held  back  somewhat  from 
her  knowledge  concerning  himself,  she,  notwith- 
standing her  transparent  sincerity  and  the  per- 
fection of  her  love,  held  back  somewhat  from 
him.  She  played  with  him,  she  eluded  him ; 
and  he  perceived  that  her  lovely  soul  —  did  he 
dwell  with  her  for  a  thousand  years  —  would 
still  have  its  surprises  for  him,  and  its  secret 
places,  adorably  difficult  of  access.  Then,  too, 
for  all  her  increasing  humanity,  the  way  of  her 
coming  at  sundown,  and  going  at  sunrise  re- 
mained unexplained  as  ever. 

One  morning  in  late  June,  standing  in  the 
bay-window,  with  the  fragrance  of  the  blossom- 
ing garden  and  the  songs  of  awakening  birds 
saluting  them,  he  questioned  her  on  this 
matter.  Her  hand  rested  in  his  —  no  longer 
perceptible  as  a  mere  pulsation,  such  as  might 
be  caused  by  the  fluttering  wings  of  a  captive 
butterfly.  It  had  substance  now,  actual, 


The  Gateless  Barrier     273 

though  very  delicate,  weight.  And  feeling 
this,  amazement  and  ecstasy  invaded  Laurence. 
His  eyes  were  alight  and  his  blood  hot. 

"  You  are  going  ?  "  he  asked.  "  But  why 
should  you  go  ?  Stay  and  see  the  day  in  its 
beauty." 

But  she  smiled  on  him,  a  serious  and  enig- 
matic smile,  though  very  full  of  tenderness. 

"  The  day  does  not  belong  to  me  yet,"  she 
answered.  "  I  cannot  take  that  which  is  not 
mine." 

"  Everything  is  ours  if  we  dare  take  it," 
Laurence  said.  "  Possession  is  in  the  act,  not 
in  the  fact.  You  create  law  by  believing  in 
and  submitting  to  it.  Cease  to  believe, 
cease  to  submit,  the  prohibition,  the  obliga- 
tion, vanishes  into  fine  air.  The  day  is  yours, 
dear  love,  and  all  the  vigorous  life  and  joy  of 
it,  if  you  will  but  venture.  Have  just  a  little 
courage.  Try  —  " 

But  she  shook  her  pretty  head,  still  smiling, 
though,  as  it  seemed  to  Laurence,  rather 
mournfully. 

"  Then  tell  me  where  you  go,"  he  said. 
"  Tell  me  where  you  pass  all  the  hours  when 
you  are  not  here?  See,  I  have  been  very 

18 


274     'The  Gateless  Barrier 

patient,  I  have  asked  you  no  questions.  And 
yet,  loving  you  as  I  do,  I  have  a  right  to 
hear." 

"  Ah  !  "  she  answered  playfully,  though  with 
a  touch  of  sadness  —  "  what  an  importunate 
being  you  have  suddenly  become  !  Yet  why  ? 
—  Half  your  life  is  hidden  from  me,  dear  Lau- 
rence, and  I  do  not  ask  to  have  it  otherwise. 
Why,  then,  should  not  half  of  mine  be  hidden 
from  you  ?  Indeed,  it  is  always  so  between 
man  and  woman,  I  think,  whether  they  know 
it —  as  we  do  —  or  know  it  not." 

But  Laurence  was  not  in  the  humour  to 
have  his  inquiry  put  aside  thus  lightly. 

"  Still  tell  me  —  tell  me/'  he  insisted. 
"  Lodk  here,  really  I  am  not  unreasonable." 
He  laughed  a  little,  looking  at  her  very 
charmingly  in  mingled  eagerness  and  com- 
mand,—  "For  your  exits  and  entrances  are 
not  as  those  of  other  women,  Agnes,  so  tell 
me.  Or  let  me  go  with  you  wheresoever  you 
go.  Or  just  —  it  is  very  simple  —  don't  go  — 
stay  right  here,  and  brave  the  glory  of  the 
sunrise.  Stay  !  — " 

As  he  spoke,  long  shafts  of  pale,  golden 
light  shot  through  the  openings  between  the 


The  Gateless  Barrier    275 

high-standing  trees  of  the  eastern  woodland, 
and  lay  in  misty  radiance  along  the  dewy 
lawns,  touching  the  heads  of  the  cypresses,  and 
flashing  upon  the  upspringing  waters  of  the 
fountains. 

"  Ah,  have  patience  —  but  a  little  trifle  of 
patience  yet,  dearest  love,"  Agnes  Rivers 
pleaded.  "  Only  wait,  and  that  which  is  to  be 
will  surely  declare  itself.  I  would  so  gladly 
stay  —  or  gladly  take  you  with  me,  going ;  but 
I  can  do  neither,  though  why,  I  do  not  at 
present  fully  comprehend." 

She  turned,  and  for  a  moment  stood  facing 
the  sunlight,  bright  in  its  royal  brightness, 
looking  out  on  the  fair,  summer  landscape,  an 
infinite  hope  and  yearning  in  her  lovely  face. 
Then  she  folded  her  hands  high  upon  her 
bosom  —  slightly  ruffling  the  smooth  surface 
of  her  dainty,  muslin  cape  —  bowed  her  head 
meekly  as  in  worship,  and  moved  away.  As 
she  passed,  Laurence  —  standing  a  little  be- 
hind her  —  for  the  first  time  heard  the  soft 
sound  of  her  rapid  footfall,  and  the  whisper  of 
her  silken  gown. 

The  young  man,  too,  worshipped  the  rising 
sun  after  his  manner  —  a  manner,  it  must  be 


The  Gateless  Barrier 


admitted,  by  no  means  of  the  meekest.  The 
room  was  empty,  but  he  did  not  greatly  care, 
for  his  great  purpose  seemed  so  close  upon 
consummation.  The  crisis  was  very  near  now. 
Before  that  splendid,  June  sun  rose  to-morrow 
—  so  he  told  himself  —  his  work  would  be 
complete.  She  was  so  nearly  human,  his  dear 
fairy-lady  ;  her  pure  spirit  so  strangely,  yet 
sensibly,  in  process  of  clothing  itself  with 
sweet,  living  flesh.  He  would  set  bread  and 
wine  before  her,  in  the  small  hours  when  this 
bright  day  was  dead.  She  should  eat  and 
drink  of  a  sacramental  feast,  designed  to 
secure,  not  eternal  life  to  the  soul,  in  this 
case,  but  mortal  life  to  the  beautiful,  young 
body  which  he  so  desired  and  loved. 

Thus  did  Laurence  Rivers  hail  the  sunrise, 
filled  with  an  immense  pride  of  his  own  action, 
his  own  will,  and  the  powers  of  his  race,  deem- 
ing himself  a  worker  of  miracles  and  equal  of 
the  immortal  gods. 


XXII 

LAURENCE  swung  himself  down 
from  the  high,  two-wheeled  dog-cart 
at  the  front  door.  The  sky  was  low- 
ering, the  evening  sultry  after  a  burn- 
ing day.  Down  in  the  south-east  a  storm  was 
brewing,  with  low  mutterings  of  thunder.  The 
air  was  curiously  still,  yet  now  and  again, 
among  the  thick  foliage  of  the  limes  and  chest- 
nuts, a  few  leaves  would  flutter  tumultuously 
as  though  stricken  with  panic,  and  then  be- 
come motionless  as  suddenly  and  causelessly  as 
they  had  become  agitated.  Laurence  was  late 
and  had  driven  home  rapidly,  not  sparing  his 
horse  —  a  young,  thorough-bred  brown,  which 
he  had  bought  about  a  fortnight  before,  and 
which  was  new  as  yet  to  harness.  It  was  all 
of  a  lather  and  sweat,  and  stood  with  out- 
stretched neck  and  open,  heavily-breathing 
nostrils.  He  looked  at  it  with  a  slight  sense 
of  compunction,  and  gave  some  orders  to  the 
groom.  It  was  a  little  hard  to  have  pressed 
the  poor  beast;  but  he  had  been  out  all  the 
afternoon,  mapping  out  the  projected  course  of 
the  light  railway  to  the  Hazledown  quarries, 


278     "The  Gateless  Barrier 

with  Armstrong  and  an  engineering  expert, 
and  he  had  been  kept  later  than  he  anticipated. 
As  it  was,  he  had  barely  time  for  a  bath,  and 
to  dress,  before  dinner  at  a  quarter-past  eight. 
His  mind  still  ran  upon  questions  of  gradients 
and  detail  of  expenditure.  He  had  thrown 
himself  energetically  into  practical  work.  It 
was  best  to  do  so,  with  the  climax  of  his  great 
adventure  looming  so  large  just  ahead.  All 
day  he  had  been  conscious  of  a  quiet,  sustained 
excitement  engendered  by  the  double  life  he 
was  leading.  It  stimulated  the  action  of  his 
brain.  The  engineer  had  warmly  approved 
some  of  his  suggestions  and  adopted  them. 
This  pleased  Laurence.  It  was  not  a  little 
satisfactory  to  find  himself  thus  capable  and 
"  on  the  spot,"  while  interests  of  so  very  dif- 
ferent a  character  formed  the  under-current  of 
his  thought.  It  fed  self-confidence,  and  justi- 
fied his  determination  of  daring  action. 

After  a  look,  first  at  the  sweating  horse  and 
then  at  the  lowering  sky,  he  hurried  into  the 
hall.  The  storm,  if  it  came  up  at  all,  would 
not  break  yet.  Probably  it  would  travel  along 
the  northern  horizon  following  the  line  of  the 
Downs.  How  hot  it  was,  though !  The 


The  Gateless  Barrier     279 

house  felt  cool  by  comparison  with  the  atmos- 
phere outside.  Then,  just  inside  the  door,  the 
two  men-servants  met  him,  Renshaw  with  a 
salver  in  his  hand. 

"  A  telegram  for  you,  sir,"  he  said  —  adding 

—  "  do  you  wish  dinner  put  off  for  a  quarter- 
of-an-hour  or  so,  sir  ?  " 

"  No  —  no,"  Laurence  answered  absently, 
"  I  shall  be  down  in  plenty  of  time." 

As  he  spoke  he  tore  open  the  ugly,  orange- 
coloured  envelope.  The  sheet  of  dirty-pink 
paper  within  contained  but  a  few  words. 

"  Wanted  here  immediately.  Return  next 
steamer.  Virginia." 

Laurence  bathed,  dressed,  dined,  while  at 
intervals  the  thunder  muttered  far  away  in  the 
east,  and  the  dark  came  swiftly  as  with  great 
strides.  In  the  centre  of  the  table  the  cut- 
glass  bowl,  upheld  by  the  dancing,  golden 
figures,  again  to-night,  as  on  the  second  night 
of  Laurence's  visit  to  Stoke  Rivers  —  which 
now  seemed  such  an  incredibly  long  time  ago 

—  held  fantastic,  single  flowers  and  sprays  of 
orchids,  some  mottled,  warty,   toad-like,  some 
tiger-coloured  striped  with  black.      These  last 
gave  off  a  heavy,  musky  scent.     The  oppres- 


280     The  Gateless  Barrier 

sive  heat,  too,  was  suggestive  of  that  earlier 
evening,  —  though  the  windows  now  stood 
wide  open.  But  then,  whatever  the  discom- 
fort of  his  physical  sensations,  Laurence  had 
been  light-hearted  enough.  His  life,  if  not 
particularly  full  of  purpose,  had  at  least  been 
free  of  entanglement.  He  had  neither  climbed 
heights  nor  sounded  depths.  His  honour  was 
untarnished,  by  so  much  as  a  questionable 
thought.  Now  the  splendour  of  life  had  got 
him,  he  was  in  the  full  swing  of  his  great 
opportunity ;  but  his  conscience  was  not  clear 
as  at  that  former  period,  and  that  —  which 
seemed  not  a  little  ironical — though  he  had 
lived  more  austerely  than  of  old,  abjuring  all 
frivolity  and  denying  himself  all  bodily  in- 
dulgence. 

Laurence  juggled  neither  with  himself  or 
with  the  facts  of  the  case.  He  did  not  whim- 
per or  grumble.  In  accepting  the  risks  of  his 
own  action,  he  had  of  necessity  accepted  this 
one.  It  was  just  the  fortune  of  war  —  not  an 
altogether  pretty  fortune  for  a  man  who  plumed 
himself  on  a  nice  taste  in  matters  of  honour, 
perhaps,  but  that  was  hardly  to  the  point. 
The  present  position  was  an  inevitable  conse- 


The  Gateless  Barrier     281 

quence  of  all  which  had  preceded  it,  and  was 
bound  to  present  itself  sooner  or  later.  Re- 
morse and  anger  were  alike  futile  and  out  of 
place.  The  question  resolved  itself  into  this 
—  what  to  do  next  ? 

Laurence  dropped  the  stump  of  his  cigarette 
into  his  finger-bowl,  and  sat  resting  his  elbows 
on  the  table  and  his  forehead  in  his  hands, 
thinking.  —  For  Virginia  meant  what  she  said. 
Of  course  she  did.  Virginia  always  meant 
what  she  said,  sometimes  a  little  more  —  cer- 
tainly never  less.  And  her  reasons  for  saying 
that  which  she  said  were  always  perfectly  con- 
vincing to  herself.  Virginia  was  never  impul- 
sive ;  her  action  was  always  the  outcome  of 
intention.  Therefore  it  was  useless  to  tem- 
porise or  ask  explanations  by  means  of  that 
far-flashing  cable.  In  her  letters  Virginia  had 
lately  commented  upon  the  length  of  his 
absence  —  quite  good-temperedly.  Virginia 
was  always  good-tempered ;  partly,  perhaps, 
because  she  had  never  had  occasion  to  learn 
what  opposition  meant.  This  telegram  was 
her  ultimatum ;  but  whether  delivered  of  her 
own  free  will  and  initiative,  or  in  deference  to 
some  unusual  circumstance,  illness,  accident, 


282     'The  Gateless  Barrier 

or  sudden  financial  crisis,  he  could  not,  of 
course,  divine.  Yet  even  so,  the  position  re- 
mained very  simple.  There  were  but  two 
paths.  One  or  other  he  must  choose.  Either 
he  must  obey  her,  and  that  unquestioningly 
and  directly  —  this  was  Thursday,  the  next 
American  mail  left  Liverpool  at  the  end  of 
the  week  —  or  he  must  refuse ;  and  that,  he 
believed,  meant  a  break  with  Virginia. 

Laurence  remained  very  still  for  a  time.  A 
break  with  Virginia  ?  —  Yes  ;  the  storm  was 
working  round  by  the  north  as  he  had  antici- 
pated. —  He  had  no  complaint  to  make  against 
Virginia,  Heaven  forbid  !  She  was  just  pre- 
cisely that  which  she  had  always  been  —  in 
her  own  sphere  and  connection,  from  the 
modern  and  mundane  point  of  view,  an  emi- 
nently and  admirably  clever  person.  He 
agreed  with  her  disciple,  Mrs.  Bellingham, 
that  in  social  affairs  she  possessed  a  savoirfaire 
and  intelligence  amounting  to  positive  genius. 
She  was  absolutely  self-reliant.  She  had  never 
been  surprised  or  nonplussed  in  all  her  life, 
and  —  and  — 

Laurence  rose  to  his  feet,  crossed  the  room 
and  rang  the  bell.  His  face  had  grown  singu- 


The  Gateless  Barrier     283 

larly  hard.  It  bore  but  slight  resemblance  to 
that  of  his  namesake,  the  gallant  and  debonair 
young  Laurence  Rivers  of  the  Cosway  minia- 
ture. Indeed,  his  eyes  were  coldly  brilliant, 
his  lips  almost  as  thin  as  those  of  Montagu 
Rivers,  his  uncle,  but  lately  dead.  —  Well,  he 
proposed  to  enlarge  Virginia's  experience.  He 
proposed  to  surprise,  to  nonplus  her.  It  was 
a  blackguardly  thing  to  do,  and  she,  of  all 
women,  would  be  the  last  to  forgive  it.  So 
much  the  better,  he  did  not  want  her  to  forgive 
it.  He  proposed  to  repudiate  Virginia,  he 
proposed  to  desert  her  —  and  then,  fortu- 
nately, the  American  divorce  laws  are  easy. 
When  Renshaw  answered  the  bell  he  said  — 
"  Leave  the  fruit  and  wine  on  the  table,  and 
bring  an  uncut  loaf  of  new,  white  bread. 
Don't  sit  up.  I  shall  be  late,  and  I  wish  to 
have  the  house  to  myself  to-night." 


XXIII 

4 

PULLING  out  the  heavy  curtain, 
Laurence  paused,  for  an  unwonted 
sound  saluted  his  ears,  to  which,  at 
first,  they  refused  credence.  He 
opened  the  door  quietly.  The  sound  con- 
tinued. The  keys  of  the  piano  were  struck 
so  softly  that  they  gave  forth  little  more  than 
the  echo  of  a  melody.  His  fairy-lady  sat 
at  the  instrument ;  and,  so  absorbed  was  she 
in  the  making  of  this  dainty  music,  that  the 
young  man  had  crossed  the  room  and  leaned 
his  elbows  on  the  edge  of  the  flat  piano-case 
opposite  to  her  before  she  looked  up  at  him. 
Nor,  meeting  his  eyes,  did  she  leave  playing, 
but  let  her  fingers  still  draw  forth  that  proces- 
sion of  slender  phrases  from  the  discoloured, 
ivory  notes  —  phrases  not  only  exquisitely 
refined,  but  with  a  tremulous  coquetterie  in 
them,  the  music  of  some  polite  and  graceful 
minuet,  in  which  Boucher's  fine  fanciful,  little 
figures  of  lover  and  mistress,  courtier  and 
prince,  painted  upon  the  satin-wood  escritoire, 
might  have  moved  and  postured,  with  a 
hundred  pretty  arts  and  invitations  at  the 


'The  Gate/ess  Barrier     285 

court  of  Louis  the  Fifteenth,  over  a  century 
ago. 

The  fine-drawn,  little  melody,  and  all  its 
suggestions  of  past  intrigues,  heart-burnings, 
elegant  if  questionable  joys,  and  luxurious 
living,  knocked  at  the  door  of  the  listener's 
heart  with  rather  perilous  pathos,  notwith- 
standing his  stern  humour.  Agnes  Rivers's 
eyes  too,  as  she  looked  steadily  at  him,  were 
at  once  grave  with  thought  and  beseeching  as 
those  of  a  child,  covetous  of  a  possible  pleas- 
ure, yet  ready  to  swallow  its  poor  tears  should 
that  pleasure  be  denied.  Her  lips  were 
parted,  but  she  did  not  speak.  She  only 
gazed  and  gazed  at  him  —  while  still  calling 
forth  those  frail  and  courteous  harmonies  — 
as  though  she  sought  to  penetrate  the  most 
hidden  recesses  of  his  nature. 

And  all  this  worked  strongly  upon  Lau- 
rence, stirring  in  him  memories  of  just  such 
hot  evenings,  when,  with  windows  set  wide 
upon  the  fragrant  garden,  and  the  wild  bright- 
ness of  the  summer  lightning  pulsing  —  as 
now  —  upon  the  far  horizon,  they  had  sat 
together  making  music,  she  and  he,  nearly  a 
hundred  years  back.  That  first  love  of  theirs 


286     The  Gateless  Barrier 

had  been  shattered  by  cruel  calamity  of 
wounds  and  death.  It  had  never  found  its 
consummation ;  and  now  the  ache  of  its  frus- 
tration was  added  to  the  ache  of  the  present 
—  of  his  passion  so  strongly  held  in  check 
during  the  last  many  weeks ;  of  his  long- 
sustained  effort,  now  touching  on  attainment ; 
of  his  so  recently  made  resolution  to  let 
honour  go  by  the  wall  rather  than  again  be 
defrauded  of  his  love. 

At  length  he  could  no  longer  endure  the 
playful,  yet  in  a  way  tragical,  music,  nor  the 
sustained  scrutiny  of  those  grave  yet  wistful 
eyes. 

"That's  enough,  Agnes;  that's  enough," 
he  cried,  and,  leaning  across  the  case  of  the 
piano,  laid  hold  on  her  hands  and  raised  them 
off  the  keyboard.  And  as  he  did  so  the  blood 
leapt  in  his  veins,  for  the  fact  was  no  longer 
open  to  question  —  those  hands  were  firm  and 
softly  warm  as  a  living  woman's  hand  should 
be,  and  the  clasp  of  them  met  and  clung  in  his. 
He  drew  her  up,  making  the  sweet  musician 
stand  opposite  to  him,  while,  bending  down, 
he  kissed  and  kissed  those  dear,  warm  hands, 
looking  at  her,  his  face  on  a  level  with  hers. 


The  Gateless  Barrier     287 

And  as  he  did  so  her  cheeks  lost  their  waxen 
pallor  and  became  beautifully  flushed  with 
clear  colour,  while  —  so  it  seemed  to  him  — 
he  could  hear  the  beating  of  her  heart.  And 
thus  for  a  space  they  stood  speechless,  con- 
sumed by  a  very  ecstasy  of  love. 

Laurence  was  the  first  to  break  that  en- 
chanted silence.  For  he  was  feverish  to 
complete  the  working  of  the  miracle  —  to 
establish  her  in  this  earthly  life  upon  which 
she  was  re-entering,  to  chain  her  spirit  to  this 
recovered  human  body  by  some  corporeal  act. 
He  was  feverish  to  set  a  seal  upon  her  new 
condition,  which  it  should  not  be  possible  for 
her  to  evade  or  to  break. 

"  The  perfect  hour  has  come,"  he  said,  with 
fierce  exultation.  "  Do  you  understand 
what  has  happened  ?  You  asked  me  once 
what  was  lacking.  Well,  that  which  was 
lacking  has  been  restored  to  you.  But  it 
won't  do  to  rest  here.  We  must  go  on,  go 
forward,  so  as  to  make  security  doubly 
secure." 

Yet  she  sighed,  turning  her  face  away  and 
gently  releasing  her  hands  from  his  grasp. 

"Ah!   the  perfect  hour  has  come  —  yes," 


288      The  Gateless  Barrier 

she  said.  "  But,  dear  Laurence,  it  came  once 
before,  and,  remember,  along  with  it  came  the 
call  for  you  to  depart.  Sorrow  trod  hard  on 
the  heels  of  joy  ;  and  I  fear  —  how  can  I  do 
otherwise?  --  lest  it  should  do  so  again 
to-night." 

Laurence  felt  his  throat  go  dry  and  his  lips 
stiffen,  so  that  speech  did  not  come  quite 
readily, 

"It  lies  with  you  to  prevent  that  catas- 
trophe," he  answered.  "  Only  be  brave. 
Do  as  1  ask  you,  and  we  can  put  all  fear 
behind  us  for  ever  and  a  day.  All  the  world 
may  call  me ;  I  shall  not  go.  It  may  howl 
at  me,  even,  using  foul  names;  but  what  does 
that  matter  ?  I  have  chosen.  I  abide  by 
my  choice." 

As  he  spoke  she  moved  a  little  further 
from  him,  while  the  thunder  growled  and 
muttered  in  the  north,  and  the  lightning 
showed  fitfully,  as  with  the  glare  of  a  burning 
town,  low  down  in  the  night  sky. 

"What  has  taken  you,  Laurence?"  she 
asked.  "You  are  strange  in  manner  and  in 
voice.  I  hardly  know  you  thus.  Yet  indeed 
I  would  do  anything  you  ask,  however  diffi- 


The  Gateless  Barrier    289 

cult,  if  that  which  you  would  have  me  do  is 
not  in  itself  sinful  or  wrong." 

"  And  this  is  right,"  he  declared ;  "  incon- 
testably,  everlastingly  right.  Indeed,  it  is 
little  more  than  bare  justice  —  the  restitution 
of  that  which  was  once  ours,  the  paying  of 
a  long-owed  debt.  In  past  years  happiness 
was  snatched  from  us  by  jealous  fate.  Fate 
has  repented  —  though  late  —  and  gives  us 
back  our  happiness.  We  should  be  fools  not 
to  take  it." 

He  stood  by  her  holding  out  his  hand,  his 
eyes  alight  as  with  a  dull  flame,  the  determina- 
tion of  conquest  very  forceful  in  him. 

"  See,"  he  said  hoarsely,  "  I  have  loved 
you  back  into  life  again,  Agnes ;  and  so  your 
life  belongs  to  me  as  no  woman's  life  has  ever 
belonged  to  a  man  before.  That  which  I 
ask,  you  must  do ;  for,  believe  me,  I  com- 
prehend this  matter  and  all  the  issues  of  it 
best." 

He  led  her  towards  the  door  and  she 
came  meekly,  yet  with  a  certain  wonder  and 
reserve  in  her  bearing,  as  one  who  ponders 
and  questions  silently  even  while  they  obey. 
He  threw  the  door  wide  open  revealing  the 


290     The  Gateless  Barrier 

back  of  the  leather-lined  curtain.  But  on 
the  threshold  she  hesitated  and  drew  back. 

"  I  have  never  crossed  this,"  she  said  with 
gentle  decision.  "  I  cannot  cross  it." 

"  But  you  must  cross  it,"  he  answered,  "  or 
all  is  lost." 

A  strong  shuddering  ran  through  her.  The 
corners  of  her  sweet  mouth  turned  down  and 
quivered,  while  her  hand  grew  very  cold. 

"  Ah,  me  !  ah,  me  !  my  love,"  she  cried, 
"  then  I  fear  indeed  all  must  needs  be  lost. 
For  to  cross  this  threshold  is  to  force  some 
barrier  which  I  have  neither  the  strength  or 
the  right  to  force.  I  do  not  know  its  name, 
but  it  is  ancient  and  venerable,  and  forbids 
my  passage  with  authority." 

"  All  the  more  shall  you  force  it  then," 
Laurence  replied.  "  Just  now,  sweetheart,  I 
tell  you  I  admit  no  authority  but  my  own. 
And  barriers  are  made  to  be  forced,  that 's 
the  use  of  them.  The  more  apparently  an- 
cient and  venerable,  the  more  must  they  go  ; 
so  that  the  new  may  supersede  the  decrepit 
and  old,  truth  may  supersede  superstition, 
hope  fear,  and  the  living  the  dead." 

He   laughed  a  little,  partly  in  defiance  of 


The  Gateless  Barrier     291 

that  more  sane  and  modest  self  of  his,  with 
whom  for  the  time  being  he  had  parted  com- 
pany, partly  to  rally  his  dear  companion's 
courage,  and  compel  her  faltering  steps. 

"  Come,"  he  said  ;  "  don't  I  love  you  better 
than  my  own  soul  ?  Would  I,  of  all  men, 
do  you  any  injury,  do  you  think  ?  Surely 
you  can  trust  me  —  come." 

But  still  that  strong  shuddering  ran  through 
her  and  she  hung  back.  Then  Laurence  lost 
patience. 

"  You  foolish  child,"  he  said,  ct  you  are 
very  much  a  woman.  Your  words  are  so 
wise  ;  yet  you  prove  so  weak  in  action  and 
scare  yourself  with  self-invented  terrors." 

He  set  his  back  against  the  heavy  curtain, 
pushing  it  outward.  Then  he  took  her  deli- 
cate body  in  his  arms,  lifted  her  over  the 
threshold,  and  set  her  feet  on  the  crimson 
carpet  of  the  sombre  and  stately  corridor 
without.  The  curtain  swept  back  into  its 
place  across  the  door  with  a  dull  thud, 
which  mingled  ominously  with  the  muttering 
thunder.  Against  the  panes  of  the  long  range 
of  windows  the  lightning  peeped  and  flickered, 
as  in  malicious  curiosity  of  that  going  forward 


'The  Gateless  Barrier 


within,  while  the  Roman  emperors  looked 
on,  supercilious,  impassive,  with  sightless, 
marble  eyes.  His  fairy-lady's  delicate  body 
had  been  light  as  a  feather,  so  light  that,  lift- 
ing it,  Laurence  had  trembled  lest  it  should 
slip  out  of  his  encircling  arms,  as  the  little 
summer  winds  might  slip  should  one  strive 
to  embrace  them  ;  and  yet  that  same  lifting 
of  her  had  taxed  every  muscle  in  his  frame, 
and  set  his  heart  thumping  like  a  steam 
hammer.  It  was  the  very  oddest  sensation, 
suggesting  that  there  was  something  very 
much  more  than  a  narrow  piece  of  polished, 
oak  flooring  and  deep,  pile  carpet  to  lift  her 
across.  He  stood  now,  breathless,  singularly 
shaken  by  the  effort,  notwithstanding  his 
natural  vigour  and  physical  strength  —  shaken, 
yet  triumphant. 

"There,  my  beloved,"  he  cried,  "there! 
It  's  not  such  a  very  dangerous  experiment 
after  all,  you  see,  to  go  out  at  an  open  door  ! 
—  And  now  you  are  redeemed  from  slavery, 
free  to  range  the  pleasant  earth  at  will  and 
accept  all  the  glad  chances  of  it." 

But  she  shrunk  against  him,  trembling,  all 
her  pretty  pride  humbled,  like  that  of  a  little 


The  Gateless  Barrier     293 

child  detected  in  a  fault.  Her  countenance 
had  become  shy  and  wild,  moreover,  and  clear 
reason  had  ceased  to  sit  enthroned  in  her 
serious  and  lovely  eyes.  She  looked  now,  as 
she  had  looked  on  the  night  he  first  found  her 
flitting  to  and  fro  in  the  yellow  parlour,  search- 
ing, searching,  vainly  and  hopelessly,  for  the 
lost  key  of  the  satin-wood  escritoire.  And 
Laurence,  seeing  her  thus,  was  smitten  with 
self-reproach  and  alarm.  Was  it  possible  that, 
along  with  the  restoration  of  her  body,  had 
returned  that  alienation  of  mind  from  which  — 
as  he  had  learned  from  her  own  testimony,  and 
from  the  well-authenticated  tradition  of  Arm- 
strong, the  agent  —  she  had  formerly  and  so 
pitifully  suffered  ?  As  more  than  once  before, 
an  immense  compassion  filled  the  young  man  ; 
so  that,  coaxing  her,  and  using  tender  and 
endearing  names  —  such  as  even  the  wisest  of 
lovers  weakly  decline  upon  at  times  —  he  half- 
led,  half-carried  her  past  the  doorways  of  all 
those  brightly-lighted,  silent  rooms,  through 
the  square  hall  —  its  flying  staircase  gleaming 
upward  step  above  step  —  until  finally  the 
dining-room  was  reached. 

Here  the  musky  odour  of  the  tiger-coloured 


294     The  Gateless  Barrier 

orchids  met  them,  with  the  effect,  as  it  seemed, 
of  a  presence  rather  than  a  scent.  It  was  full 
of  subtle  suggestions,  that  seeming  presence, 
wooing  them  with  insidious  provocations  of 
sense  to  partake  of  the  mysterious,  sacramental 
feast  set  out  before  them  —  a  feast  designed 
to  wed,  irrevocably,  the  sweet  spirit  to  its  so 
lately  recovered  body,  and  rivet  upon  it  once 
again  not  only  the  natural  joys,  but  the  inevi- 
table cares  and  pains,  all  the  grievous  burdens 
of  mortal  life. 

The  cloth  had  been  withdrawn  and  upon  the 
dark  surface  of  the  bare  table,  doubled  by  ver- 
tical reflections,  a  service  of  costly  china,  antique 
silver,  and  fine  glass,  was  spread.  Rare  wines 
filled  the  long-necked  bottles  and  quaint  high- 
shouldered  decanters ;  while  the  painted  and 
gilded  dishes  held  velvet-skinned,  hot-house 
peaches,  red-gold  nectarines,  little  black  Italian 
figs,  and  pyramids  of  fragrant  strawberries  set 
in  a  fringe  of  fresh  and  lustrous  leaves.  The 
loaf  of  white  bread  was  there  also,  a  simple  and 
humble  item  offering  something  of  contrast  to 
its  ornate  surroundings. 

Laurence  placed  his  fairy-lady  in  the  carven 
arm-chair  at  the  head  of  the  table.  Seated 


The  Gateless  Barrier     295 

there,  her  slight  figure,  in  its  high-waisted,  rose- 
red,  silken  gown  and  transparent  lace  and 
muslin  cape,  looked  singularly  youthful  and 
fragile.  Her  graceful  head  and  white  throat 
showed  up  against  the  dark  panelling  of  the 
wall.  Her  hands  rested  languidly  upon  the 
arms  of  her  chair.  The  corners  of  her  mouth 
still  quivered,  and  her  eyes  were  wide  with 
inarticulate  distress.  And  all  the  while,  oppo- 
site to  her,  in  at  the  windows  at  the  far  end  of 
the  room,  the  lightning,  away  there  in  the 
north,  peeped  evilly  and  flickered,  and  some- 
times glared,  a  broad  sheet  of  pale  flame, 
behind  the  blackness  of  the  distant  woods 
crowning  the  rounded  hills. 

Laurence  stood  close  beside  her.  He  filled 
her  glass  with  wine  and  placed  fruit  upon  her 
plate,  speaking  to  her  very  gently;  possessed, 
meanwhile,  by  an  adoration  of  her  extreme  and 
pensive  beauty,  a  great  resolution  to  complete 
his  work  in  respect  of  her,  and  a  distrust  lest 
that  work  was  going  sorely  amiss.  But  though 
he  did  his  best  to  secure  her  attention,  for 
many  minutes  she  neither  moved  nor  uttered 
any  sound. 

"  See,  dear  love,"  the  young  man  pleaded — 


296     The  Gateless  Barrier 

"  see,  I  have  made  you  a  dainty  supper. 
Remember,  this  is  the  first  time  I  ask  you  to 
eat  a  meal  in  my  house.  You  were  Dudley's 
guest  often  enough  in  old  days,  and  did  not 
refuse  what  was  set  before  you.  Surely  it  is 
pleasanter  to  you  to  be  my  guest  than  his  ? 
So  do  not  wander  off,  even  for  a  little  while,  to 
walk  those  dim  and  dreary  interspaces  between 
two  worlds.  All  that  is  over.  Don't  become 
intangible  and  remote,  or  yield  yourself  to 
malign  influences  which  would  enthrall  you 
and  draw  you  away.  Lay  hold  of  your  woman- 
hood, sweetheart ;  and  let  human  love  wrap 
you  about,  and  keep  you  safe  and  warm. 
There  is  nothing,  nothing  in  all  this  to  fear, 
if  you  will  but  believe  me.  Eat,  my  beloved, 
you  have  fasted  long.  You  have  come  from 
very  far  —  how  far  heaven  only  knows  !  You 
are  faint  and  weary  with  the  length  of  the  way. 
Therefore  eat,  drink  —  let  your  body  be 
refreshed  and  let  your  heart  grow  glad. 

And  presently,  while  he  thus  encouraged 
her,  slowly,  as  one  who  shakes  off  the  torpor 
of  exhaustion,  she  stretched,  sitting  very  up- 
right in  the  great,  high-backed  chair.  The 
distress  and  desolation  of  her  expression  began 


The  Gateless  Barrier     297 

to  give  place  to  a  gentle  curiosity.  She  looked 
at  the  costly  furnishings  of  the  table,  the  danc- 
ing, golden  figures  in  their  flowing  robes,  the 
fantastic  flowers,  the  delicious  fruits ;  fingered 
a  silver  spoon,  and  seeing  her  own  reflection 
in  the  bowl  of  it,  quaintly  distorted,  smiled. 
Then  suddenly  putting  up  both  hands  and 
covering  her  face  she  gave  a  quick,  little  sneeze 
—  sign  in  the  East  of  Life,  but  in  the  West 
precursor  of  Death.  Of  whichever  the  sign 
in  the  present  case,  incontestible  it  was,  that, 
with  this  same  little  sneeze  a  change  was  per- 
ceptible in  her,  which  her  lover  noting,  hailed 
as  indicative  of  success.  So  he  urged  her  yet 
more. 

"  Yes,  my  beloved,  you  are  tired,"  he  said  ; 
"  and  it  is  so  long  since  you  have  sat  at  table 
in  this  room,  that  very  simple  things  appear 
perplexing  to  you.  But  that's  a  small  matter. 
The  old  habits  will  soon  re-assert  themselves, 
and  all  be  natural  and  obvious  enough.  For 
in  the  coming  days  I  intend  we  shall  very  con- 
stantly sit  here  together,  you  and  I ;  and  per- 
haps others  will  sit  here  with  us  as  time  goes 
on "  —  Laurence  paused,  his  voice  shook  a 
little  — "  our  children,  fair  girls  and  hand- 


298     The  Gateless  Barrier 

some  lads,  whom  we  shall  greatly  love,  and  in 
whose  youth  our  own  youth  will  live  again. 
But  to  secure  all  that,  Agnes,  you  must  eat 
and  drink  now  in  plain,  honest  fashion,  sleep 
sound  of  nights,  wake  in  the  kindly  sunshine, 
put  morbid  fears  and  fancies  far  from  you  and 
grow  strong.  You  are  compounded  of  too 
tenuous  and  sublimated  stuff  for  motherhood 
as  yet.  Therefore  eat,  dear  love.  Delay  no 
longer.  The  hours  run  on  towards  the  morn- 
ing and  this  matter  must  be  assured  before  the 
morning  comes.  Do  not  be  wayward.  In 
the  name  of  your  love  for  me,  and  of  all  your 
sorrows,  I  entreat  you,  eat  and  be  strong !  " 

Once  again  she  covered  her  face  with  her 
hand  and  gave  a  quick,  little  sneeze.  Then 
looking  full  at  him,  she  smiled,  though  some- 
what sadly. 

"  Let  it  be  even  as  you  wish,"  she  said  very 
meekly.  "  Give  me  bread." 

Laurence,  mightily  rejoicing,  cut  the  loaf, 
and  placed  the  bread  upon  her  plate.  Trem- 
blingly, as  though  putting  a  great  force  upon 
herself,  she  broke  it  into  little  pieces,  carried  one 
to  her  lips,  then  laid  it  back  beside  the  others 
on  her  plate  ;  next  stretched  out  her  hand  for 


The  Gateless  Barrier     299 

the  glass  of  wine  her  lover  held  towards  her, 
but  shook  her  head,  and  set  it  down  untasted. 
While  he,  eager  to  the  point  of  desperation, 
yet  dreading  in  any  way  to  affright  her  and  so 
defeat  his  own  ends,  fell  to  coaxing  her  once 
more,  with  a  certain  playful  seriousness. 

"  See  here,"  he  said,  "  learn  by  experience. 
The  threshold  which  you  declared  impassable 
was  very  easily  crossed.  And  this  affair  of 
your  little  supper  is  exactly  parallel.  You  are 
the  victim  of  your  own  imagination.  What 
after  all  holds  you  back  ?  " 

Once  more  she  essayed  valiantly  to  obey 
him  ;  but  once  more  laid  the  morsel  of  bread 
down  on  her  plate.  The  thunder  rolled  from 
east  to  west  along  the  northern  heights,  and 
the  lightning  flickered  ;  but  both  had  grown 
faint  and  very  distant,  while  a  soft,  cool  air 
wandered  in  at  the  open  window,  dispelling  the 
clinging  and  insidious  odour  of  the  orchids, 
purifying  the  heavy  atmosphere  of  the  room, 
and  lightly  stirring  the  little  lace  frills  of  Agnes 
Rivers' s  muslin  cape. 

"  What  after  all  holds  you  back  ?  "  he  de- 
manded, with  some  agitation.  For  that  cool 
draw  of  air,  though  pleasant,  affected  him  un- 


300     The  Gateless  Barrier 

expectedly.  It  appeared  to  blow  across  the 
valley  from  Stoke  Rivers  churchyard,  where, 
in  the  spring  morning  three  months  before,  he 
had  watched  the  little  shadows  cast  by  the 
feathery  branches  of  the  age-old  yew-trees 
dance  and  beckon  among  the  grass-grown 
graves. 

But  his  fairy-lady  pushed  her  plate  aside. 
All  her  gentle  dignity  had  returned  to  her,  and 
a  wisdom  born  of  knowledge  more  profound 
than  that  granted  to  most  human  creatures  sat 
once  again  enthroned  in  her  eyes.  There  was 
an  effulgence  in  her  loveliness  which  almost 
awed  him,  yet  she  did  that  which  during  all 
their  intercourse  she  had  never  done  before. 
Calmly,  fearlessly,  and  as  of  right,  she  put  up 
her  sweet  lips  and  kissed  him. 

"  This  holds  me  back,"  she  said,  "  that  at 
last  all  the  confusion  which  oppressed  my  mind 
is  gone,  and  that  I  understand  who  and  what  I 
am.  I  have  striven,  and  ah  !  how  gladly  would 
I  have  proved  victorious  in  that  strife,  for  all 
my  heart  goes  forth  in  natural  desire,  not  only 
to  obey  your  dear  wishes,  but  to  secure  to  my- 
self those  things  which  your  wishes  would  bring. 
I  perceive  that  to  eat  is  to  live,  not  the  shadowy, 


The  Gateless  Barrier    301 

unrelated  life  of  a  disembodied  spirit,  divorced 
from  the  activities  of  earth,  yet  —  by  some 
inherent  wilfulness  —  still  so  wedded  to  earth 
that  it  cannot  enter  the  peaceful  regions  of  the 
Faithful  Departed.  To  eat  is  to  live,  as  you 
live  —  and  rightly  —  in  the  shock  and  tumult 
of  the  world ;  to  love  as  you  love  —  needs 
must,  dear  heart  —  with  all  the  passions  of  the 
unstable  flesh,  as  well  as  the  pure  and  immu- 
table passion  of  the  soul.  I  have  dallied  too 
long  with  temptation,  and  in  my  weakness 
brought  sorrow  on  you  —  perhaps  worse  than 
sorrow,  disgrace.  But  the  temptation  was  so 
potent,  the  promise  of  it  so  enchanting,  that, 
until  to-night,  I  had  not  grasped  its  full  signifi- 
cance and  scope.  As  to  our  first  mother  Eve, 
ages  back,  in  the  mystic  garden,  so  to  me  to- 
night to  eat,  O  my  love,  is  sin  !  " 

Laurence  straightened  himself  up,  and  all  the 
fierceness,  the  relentlessness  of  his  race,  stiff- 
ened itself  within  him  ;  yet  he  kept  himself  in 
hand  because  love  still  was  paramount  to  all 
other  emotions. 

"  And  if  it  be  sin,  it  is  too  late  to  vex  our- 
selves about  that.  You  have  forced  the  barrier 
after  all.  The  curtain,  which  closes  the  entrance 


302     The  Gateless  Barrier 

to  your  not  very  cheerful  Eden,  has  swung 
back  into  place.  I  have  you,  and  I  keep  you. 
I  have  fought  for  you,  won  you,  not  wholly 
without  personal  loss.  So  you  are  to  me  as 
the  spoils  of  battle,  which  a  man  having  taken, 
is  very  certainly  in  no  humour  hurriedly  to 
give  up.  And  even  were  this  so,  had  I  not 
these  claims  on  your  obedience,  to  eat,  my  dear, 
could  n't  be  sin.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  bare 
common-sense  — just  the  next  move,  logically 
necessary,  in  the  particularly  delicious  game 
which  you  and  I,  for  cause  unknown,  are  or- 
dained to  play  together.  With  logic  and  com- 
mon-sense as  backers,  how  can  sin  have  a  word 
to  say  in  the  matter  ?  " 

"Thus,"  she  answered  —  "because  now  as 
once  before,  when  the  perfect  hour  had  come, 
and  things  showed  so  fair  that  to  better  them 
appeared  almost  impossible,  the  call  has  come 
for  you  to  leave  me,  and  leave  me  you  surely 
must." 

"  You  are  mistaken,"  Laurence  answered 
hoarsely.  "  You  confuse  both  the  events  and 
obligations  of  the  past  with  those  of  the  pres- 
ent. The  call  has  not  come." 

Then  Agnes  Rivers  rose  up,  pushing  the 


The  Gateless  Barrier    303 

carven  chair  away  from  her,  and  standing  with 
a  certain  graceful  independence  before  the 
sumptuously  spread  table,  in  the  centre  of  the 
highly-lighted  room,  between  the  open  window 
and  the  open  door.  Her  person,  thus  seen, 
suggested  some  clear  jewel  of  infinite  value  in 
a  dark  and  heavy  though  splendid  setting ;  or 
some  tender,  solitary  flower  amid  the  lifeless 
magnificence  of  a  desert  city,  rich  with  the 
tombs  of  long-dead  kings.  A  gentle  daring,  a 
self-assertion  strong  as  steel  yet  soft  as  a  silken 
thread,  seemed  to  animate  her  whole  being. 

"  Rather  is  it  you  that  are  mistaken,"  she 
answered ;  "  but  whether  with  your  consent  or 
against  it,  I  cannot  tell.  It  is  you  that  dream 
just  now,  my  love,  and  suffer,  perhaps  subscribe 
to,  delusion  —  strong  man  though  you  are  — 
and  I  that  wake.  For  the  call  has  come  to 
you ;  and  though  you  should  employ  all  the 
eloquence  of  all  the  sages  to  convince  me  it  is 
otherwise,  I  could  not  be  convinced." 

"  You  are  very  stubborn,"  he  said. 

"  And  yet,  I  spare  you,"  she  replied,  in  a 
tone  of  half  mirthful,  half  tender,  reproach ; 
"  for  I  only  assert  the  fact.  The  exact  nature 
of  the  call  I  do  not  know,  and  I  do  not  ask 


304     The  Gate/ess  Barrier 

you  to  tell  it  me.  I  am  sufficiently  human  — 
you  have  brought  me  so  far  on  the  backward 
road,  which  my  naughty  feet  were  only  too 
willing  to  tread  —  to  greatly  long  to  know  the 
exact  nature  of  that  call.  Yet,  did  I  know  it,  I 
fear  it  might  provoke  a  wicked  spirit  of  jealousy 
in  me,  and  of  envy  towards  one  who  has,  in  the 
natural  sequence  of  things,  that  which  I  have 
not,  yet  fain  would  have.  Therefore  do  not 
try  me  too  far,  lest  my  courage  fail  and  I  de- 
cline from  right,  and  break  the  perfect  circle  of 
our  dealings  with  one  another,  so  painting  both 
past  and  future  with  the  ugly  colours  of  re- 
morseful regret.  You  told  me  you  would  never 
leave  me  again  unless  I  bade  you  do  so.  Well, 
now,  the  time  has  come.  Redeem  your  word." 

Laurence  would  have  spoken ;  but,  still 
with  that  air  of  almost  heavenly  mirth,  she 
laid  her  hand  upon  his  mouth.  There  was 
hardly  perceptible  substance  or  weight  in  it ; 
and  once  again  —  now  with  despair,  though 
the  sensation  was  in  itself  delicious  —  he  felt 
that  fluttering,  as  of  the  wings  of  a  captive 
butterfly,  against  his  lips. 

"  No,  no,"  she  protested,  "  do  not  speak, 
for  I  am  woman  enough  to  be  resolved  to  have 


The  Gateless  Barrier     305 

the  last  word.  Put  away  delusion  and  all  ex- 
travagance. —  Think,  after  all,  what  do  you 
leave?  Not  much,  believe  me.  For  I  am 
but  a  ghost.  I  have  no  right  to  any  earthly 
dwelling-place,  no  right  to  lie  in  the  arms  of 
living  man.  It  would  be  monstrous,  a  thing 
abhorrent  to  nature,  an  insult  to  the  awful  and 
unbroken  order  of  cause  and  effect  that  has 
operated  from  the  beginning  of  being  and  of 
time,  that  I  should  force  the  barrier  completely, 
and  project  myself,  at  once  unburied  and  un- 
born, for  a  second  time  into  the  arena  of 
earthly  life.  It  would  be  an  act  of  rebellion, 
of  self-seeking,  beside  which  that  of  Lucifer 
grows  pale  —  for  he  at  least  was  an  archangel, 
which  might  give  reasonable  cause  of  pride  — 
whereas  I  ?  —  No,  God  in  His  infinite  mercy 
has  granted  me  fulness  of  understanding  just 
in  time ;  and  I  have  no  fear  but  that,  since  I 
voluntarily  resign  myself,  curb  my  imperious 
will  and  forego  the  desire  of  my  heart,  He  will 
further  grant  me  access  to  that  place  of  refresh- 
ment, light,  and  peace,  in  which  souls  wait 
until  their  final  beatitude.  In  God's  hands  are  / 
all  things,  and  I  now  see  that  behind  the  loves 
of  earth,  just  in  proportion  as  those  loves  are 


306     The  Gateless  Barrier 

noble  and  have  in  them  a  seed  of  permanence, 
stands  for  ever  the  love  of  God  Himself,  sure 
and  faithful,  full  of  a  satisfaction  that  can  never 
lessen  or  pass  away.  I  have  been  blind  and 
very  wilful,  loving  Him  too  little,  loving  you 
too  much.  But  He  who  made  all  men  and 
sees  how  beautiful  they  are,  so  that  in  loving 
them  —  they  being  made  in  His  image  —  we 
unconsciously  all  the  while  but  love  His  image 
evident  in  them  —  He  will  surely  understand 
me  and  forgive." 

There  Laurence  broke  in  madly  — "  Ah, 
stop  talking,  stop  talking !  What  are  words 
at  such  a  time  as  this  ?  You  are  mine  by  right 
of  conquest,  as  I  have  already  told  you.  For 
God  and  the  eternities  I  care  not,  just  now, 
one  little  bit.  You  belong  to  me.  I  have 
bought  you  at  a  great  price,  I  love  you  and 
will  enter  into  possession  of  my  own." 

And  he  essayed  to  lay  hold  of  her,  his  blood 
on  fire,  for  the  moment,  with  frustrated  pride, 
the  agony  of  relinquishment,  and  passion 
baulked. 

"  And  I  love  you  too,"  she  answered  fear- 
lessly, "  so  greatly,  so  absorbingly,  that  I  have 
broken  all  bonds  of  time  and  space,  and  defied 


The  Gateless  Barrier     307 

all  laws  of  life  and  death,  to  find  you,  and 
behold  you,  and  speak  with  you  again  — " 

Yet  even  as  she  made  this  declaration,  she 
slipped  away  from  his  urgent  embrace,  even  as 
a  rosy  snow-wreath  slips  from  the  cliff  edge, 
when  the  sun  climbs  high  in  heaven,  drawing 
back  to  itself,  by  the  power  of  its  strength  and 
heat,  snow  and  vapours,  dews  and  fair,  dissolv- 
ing mists,  such  as  cling  at  dawn  along  the 
water-courses  and  haunt  the  quiet  underspaces 
of  the  woods.  There  were  tears  in  her  sweet 
eyes,  and  that  airy  frame  of  hers  was  shaken 
by  sobs  ;  yet  her  face  very  brave  and  of  a  mar- 
vellous brightness. 

"  Go  back  to  the  world,  dear  love,"  she  said, 
"  and  play  your  part  in  the  great  game  finely 
to  the  close.  Let  no  shame  touch  you,  or 
breath  of  dishonour  smirch  any  page  of  your 
record.  I  will  go  back  too  —  yet  rather  go 
forward  —  reaching  a  fairer  world  than  yours, 
a  world  which  in  my  folly  I  disdained,  being 
blinded  by  the  things  of  sense.  There  I  shall 
await  your  coming;  and  we  shall  be  one  at 
last,  being  one  with  Almighty  and  Eternal 
God." 

She   passed  from   the   room ;   but,  though 


308     The  Gateless  Barrier 

Laurence  followed  her  swiftly,  he  found  the 
corridor  empty.  The  yellow  drawing-room, 
when  he  entered  it,  was  vacant  too,  though 
retaining  its  gracious  and  friendly  aspect.  A 
cool  wind  blew  through  it,  laden  with  the 
scent  of  the  rose  borders  of  the  Italian  garden. 
The  storm  was  over,  and  the  night  sky  was 
clear  and  very  full  of  stars. 


XXIV 

OUITE  a  number  of  people  had 
come  to  luncheon.  Quite  a  num- 
ber still  remained,  though  it  was  past 
four  o'clock,  upon  the  great,  deep- 
eaved  verandah,  in  attendance  on  Virginia. 
There  was  a  babel  of  clear,  penetrating  voices, 
occasionally  an  outbreak  of  laughter,  though, 
in  point  of  fact,  notwithstanding  its  ready 
verbal  wit,  the  New  World  is  less  addicted  to 
laughter  than  the  Old.  Laurence  had  listened, 
had  put  in  a  lazy  sentence  here  and  there ;  but 
now  the  entertainment  began  to  pall  on  him 
slightly.  It  was  too  continuous.  They  were 
all  so  young,  so  emphatic,  so  tireless  in  the 
business  of  pleasure,  these  bright,  clear-cut, 
young  people.  He  remembered  it  was  mail 
day.  The  English  letters  and  newspapers 
should  have  arrived  by  now.  He  got  up  and 
sauntered,  cigarette  in  mouth,  into  the  great, 
pale  living-room.  The  Venetian  shutters  were 
closed,  and  the  room,  with  its  spare  though 
elegant  furniture,  and  butter-coloured,  parquet 
floor,  was  full  of  a  clear,  green  light,  quiet, 
and  excellently  cool.  Sure  enough,  on  one  of 


3io     'The  Gateless  Barrier 

the  tables  lay,  in  goodly  array,  lately  arrived 
letters  and  papers.  Laurence  began  opening 
these  in  desultory  fashion.  The  glass  doors, 
standing  wide  on  to  the  verandah,  framed 
Virginia's  perfectly  finished  person  lying  back 
in  a  rocking-chair.  Her  profile  was  outlined 
against  a  soft,  sea-green  cushion.  She  was 
talking,  others  were  listening,  as  was  usually 
the  case  in  respect  of  Virginia.  Beyond  the 
hand-rail  and  uprights  of  the  verandah,  could 
be  seen  a  long  sweep  of  rather  coarse  grass,  and 
the  waters  of  the  river,  white  in  the  brilliant, 
afternoon  light,  whereon  lay  some  trim  rowing- 
boats  and  smart  pleasure-yachts  at  anchor. 
The  water  was  absolutely  still,  even  and  gleam- 
ing as  the  surface  of  a  silver  mirror;  yet  it 
lapped  with  a  just  audible  gurgle  and  suck 
against  the  indentations  of  the  low,  green 
banks.  And  this  cool,  liquid  sound  formed 
an  agreeable  undertone  to  those  clear,  pene- 
trating voices,  the  ceaseless  chirrup  of  crickets 
and  strident  fiddlings  of  countless  grass- 
hoppers. 

Behind  the  ample,  wide-ranging,  wooden 
house  —  spotless  in  its  purity  of  white  paint, 
dignified  by  its  ranges  of  dark-green,  slatted 


"The  Gateless  Barrier     311 

shutters,  its  grey-brown,  shingled  roofs,  and 
many  gables  —  a  certain  puritan  simplicity  per- 
vading it,  somewhat  quaintly  at  variance  with 
its  highly-developed  appliances  of  modern 
comfort,  and  the  almost  surprisingly  civilised 
examples  of  modern  humanity  now  domiciled 
within  it  —  behind  it  the  ground  trended  up- 
ward, through  pleasant  orchards  of  apple,  pear, 
and  peach  trees,  past  commodious  wooden 
barns  and  stables,  long,  grey  snake-fences,  and 
corn  patches,  where  the  pumpkins  began  to  grow 
golden  beneath  the  wide,  glistening  leaves,  the 
giant  cobs  and  silken  tassels  of  the  maize. 
Down  to  meet  this  spacious  foreground  unen- 
cumbered by  superfluous  detail,  wandered  the 
sparse,  untamed,  ubiquitous  woodland  of  the 
New  England  States.  Everywhere  slender, 
long-limbed  trees,  endless  scrub,  festooning 
vines,  heavy  with  bunches  of  little  fox-grapes, 
and  below  outcroppings  of  grey  rock.  Some 
two  months  hence,  the  edge  of  the  woodland 
would  be  fringed  by  spires  of  golden-rod  and 
processions  of  purple  asters,  while  the  maples 
set  forth  an  amazement  of  verdigris  green, 
lemon-colour,  and  all  manner  of  radiant  pinks 
and  scarlets,  and  sumach  dyed  the  hollows 


The  Gateless  Barrier 


blood-red  ;  but  as  yet  the  woods  retained  their 
summer  tints.  There  was  a  slight  want  of 
atmosphere  no  doubt.  The  landscape  was 
oddly  lacking  in  values  of  distance  ;  while  the 
sky  was  blue  to  the  point  of  crudity,  and  the 
sun  blazed,  had  blazed,  would  blaze,  with  a 
youthful  and  tireless  energy  —  not  unsugges-, 
tive  of  the  conversation  of  Virginia  and  all 
those  friends  of  hers  —  throughout  the  un- 
shadowed and  unmitigated  day. 

To  right  and  left  were  other  hospitable 
mansions,  the  limits  of  their  private  grounds 
unmarked  by  jealous  wall  or  paling.  A  wide- 
ranging  spirit  of  good-nature  and  confidence 
appeared  to  reign  ;  yet,  in  point  of  fact,  the 
inhabitants  of  these  agreeable  country  houses 
formed  a  distinctly  close  corporation.  The 
Van  Reenan  property  had  been  broken  up  into 
building  lots  on  the  death  of  its  first  owner, 
old  Erasmus  Van  Reenan,  merchant  and  finan- 
cier of  New  York,  nearly  seventy  years  ago. 
But  the  said  lots  had  been  acquired  by  mem- 
bers of  his  numerous  family  ;  and  still  Van 
Reenans,  direct  and  collateral,  their  children 
and  their  children's  children,  found  relaxation 
at  times  in  this  amiable,  American  Capua. 


The  Gateless  Barrier    313 

But  woe  to  any  intruder  from  the  outer  world, 
unless  furnished  with  irreproachable  passport 
and  the  very  highest  of  high-class  references, 
who  should  venture  to  set  sacrilegious  foot  on 
this1  thrice  sacred  ground !  For,  as  Laurence 
had  frequently  reflected  —  not  without  a  meas- 
ure of  amusement  —  nothing  is  so  essentially 
aristocratic  as  a  democratic  country,  nothing  so 
socially  exclusive  as  an  immature  civilisation. 
It  was  the  first  time  since  her  marriage 
that  Virginia  had  honoured  the  Van  Reenan 
property  with  her  presence ;  but  being  de- 
barred, by  the  fact  of  her  mourning  for  her 
husband's  uncle,  from  participation  in  the  gay 
life  of  those  summer  resorts  where  the  elite  of 
the  smart  world  do  mostly  congregate,  she  had 
elected  to  retire  upon  one  of  these  many- 
gabled,  ancestral  mansions.  She  was  explain- 
ing all  this  —  and  really  it  appeared  to  require 
a  surprising  amount  of  explanation  —  to  Mr. 
Horace  Greener,  a  young  man  of  distin- 
guished, social  pretensions,  the  constant  fre- 
quenter of  her  entertainments  both  in  Newport 
and  New  York,  who,  finding  himself  obliged  to 
visit  the  city  on  business,  had  sought  at  once 
physical  refreshment  and  satisfaction  of  the 


314     "The  Gateless  Barrier 

emotion  of  friendship  by  running  out  by  train, 
to-day,  to  visit  her. 

Virginia's  clear  intonations  rose  superior  to 
the  chorus  of  feminine  voices  around  her, 
their  singular  vivacity  and  singular  composure 
alike  offering  an  unconscious  challenge  to 
Laurence's  mental  attitude  as  he  lazily  tore 
open  his  English  letters  and  newspapers.  He 
had  left  Stoke  Rivers  just  three  weeks,  and  all 
that  time  he  had  been  a  prey  to  vacuity,  to  a 
sort  of  gnawing  emptiness.  At  moments  a 
blind  rage  took  him,  but  only  at  moments. 
In  the  main  his  attitude  was  cynical.  Disap- 
pointment had  embittered  him.  Nothing 
mattered  much,  nothing  ever  would  matter 
much  again.  He  had  had  his  great  chance 
and  lost  it,  muddled  it  somehow.  A  bigger 
man  would  have  over-ridden  the  difficulties 
of  the  affair.  But  he  was  a  bungler,  a  poor 
creature.  He  was  profoundly  contemptuous 
of  himself,  and  not  a  little  contemptuous  also 
of  men  and  things. 

But  here  was  a  thick  packet  from  Arm- 
strong, and  that  awoke  an  unexpected  interest 
in  him.  It  would  be  quite  pleasant  to  have 
news  of  the  light  railway,  and  the  gypsum 


The  Gateless  Barrier     315 

quarries.  —  Nice  fellow,  that  young  engineer, 
and  not  at  all  conceited.  Most  experts  have 
such  a  confoundedly  good  opinion  of  them- 
selves !  —  Laurence  fell  to  whistling  softly, 
and  involuntarily  he  recalled  the  slender, 
courtly  music  of  a  certain  eighteenth  century 
minuet.  Then  he  stopped  suddenly,  an  im- 
mense nostalgia  taking  him  for  a  very  differ- 
ent scene  and  place,  and  —  well,  a  general 
outlook  less  secure  and  circumscribed,  and, 
he  had  almost  said,  trivial.  He  didn't  want 
to  be  censorious  —  who  was  he,  after  all, 
in  good  truth,  to  be  that?  —  but  Horace 
Greener's  trim,  light-clad  person,  leaning 
against  a  pillar  of  the  verandah  close  to  Vir- 
ginia's rocking-chair,  caught  his  eye.  The 
young  man  was  excellently  got  up,  he  was 
well-bred,  agreeable,  would  pass  muster  in 
any  society ;  yet  Laurence  wearied  mightily 
of  him  just  then  —  of  his  neatly  handsome 
features,  which  would  photograph  so  well  and 
paint  so  poorly,  and  of  his  alert  and  civil 
manner. 

"  No,  I  imagined  you  would  be  surprised 
to  find  me  so  at  home  in  this  idyllic  and 
patriarchal  milieu,  Mr.  Greener,"  Virginia  was 


316      The  Gateless  Barrier 

saying.  "  I  rather  counted  upon  that.  You 
did  not  accredit  me  with  so  much  adaptability. 
Some  other  of  my  friends  have  observed  upon 
that  also.  And  I  assure  you  I  am  rewarded ; 
for  1  find  it  the  most  recuperative  process  a 
woman  can  go  through  to  retire  upon  herself 
and  upon  nature  in  this  way.  My  parents 
had  been  anxious  to  come  out  here  all  summer 
this  year,  and  when  I  concluded  to  join  them 
we  worked  out  a  regular  scheme.  I  assure 
you  it  has  called  forth  a  quite  affecting  display 
of  family  affection.  There  are  nine  houses 
on  the  place.  They  are  all  full.  We  all 
meet  daily.  Even  my  cousin,  Mrs.  Belling- 
ham,  has  come  over  with  her  children  from 
Europe.  —  Yes,  I  am  very  glad  you  should 
have  met  Louise  again,  Mr.  Greener.  The 
English  life  does  not  altogether  suit  her. 
I  observed  she  was  wanting  at  first  in  ani- 
mation. It  does  her  good  to  see  old  friends. 
I  apprehend  she  feels  rather  exiled.  I  won- 
der if  I  shall  feel  rather  exiled  ?  But  I  don't 
propose  to  take  it  that  way.  I  propose  every 
one  there  shall  feel  exiled  because  they  have 
not  had  the  inestimable  advantage  of  being 
born  on  this  side.  Do  you  not  think  that 


The  Gateless  Barrier     317 

is  the  true  patriotic  platform,  now,  Mr. 
Greener  ?  "  — 

There  was  another  letter.  Laurence  knew 
the  handwriting,  but  he  could  couple  no  name 
with  it.  Yet  certainly  he  knew  it,  and  the 
sight  of  it  conveyed  to  him  an  impression 
vaguely  amusing.  He  laid  aside  the  agent's 
voluminous  packet  and  opened  the  envelope. 

"  Why,  the  poor  little  Padre  Sahib,  to  be 
sure,"  he  exclaimed,  half  aloud.  "  Have  they 
been  tripping  him  up  with  strings  again  across 
the  school  door  ?  " 

But  as  he  read,  amusement  gave  place  to 
quite  other  sentiments.  His  eyebrows  drew 
together,  and  his  face,  for  all  its  healthy  sun- 
burn, blanched  to  the  indistinct,  dusty  grey 
of  his  well-cut  flannels. 

"  This  very  shocking  discovery  has,  as  you 
will,  I  feel  sure,  readily  conceive,  quite  un- 
nerved me,"  wrote  Walter  Samuel  Beal. 
"  But  for  the  support  and  invaluable  advice 
of  the  Archdeacon  I  should  have  sunk  under 
the  burden  of  responsibility  thrown  upon  me. 
A  case  so  extraordinary  has  rarely,  if  ever, 
arisen,  I  should  suppose,  during  the  whole 
history  of  the  Christian  ministry.  I  should 


318      The  Gateless  Barrier 

add  that  the  oak  coffin  was  so  charred  at  one 
corner  as  to  reveal  a  second  coffin,  composed 
of  lead,  within.  As  the  inscription  upon  the 
coffin  plate  was  quite  legible,  and  as  Mr. 
Armstrong  was  in  possession  of  information 
bearing  upon  this  very  painful  matter,  I 
abstained  from  further  investigation  myself 
and  entreated  others  also  to  do  so." 

"  Thank  God  for  that,"  Laurence  muttered. 

There  was  a  drawing  back  of  chairs  upon 
the  verandah,  an  outbreak  of  rapid  question 
and  answer,  of  laughter,  reiterated  and  exten- 
sive farewells.  Virginia's  clear  voice  still  rose 
dominant.  She  was  marshalling  her  forces, 
arranging  future  meetings,  making  appoint- 
ments, ordering  her  plan  of  campaign  —  and 
outside,  all  the  while,  the  sun  blazed  on  the 
surface  of  the  white  waters  of  the  river,  the 
ripple  lapped  against  the  green,  indented 
banks,  the  crickets  and  grasshoppers  kept  up 
their  strident  serenade. 

"  I  felt  that  neither  my  courage  nor  my 
judgment  was  equal  to  the  ordeal,"  wrote  the 
worthy  young  clergyman.  "  I  dreaded  to 
entangle  myself  in  legal  questions  of  which  I 
virtually  know  nothing.  I  can  never  express 


The  Gate/ess  Barrier    319 

the  gratitude  I  owe  to  the  Archdeacon.  He 
advised  that  the  coffin  should  be  placed  pro- 
visionally in  the  plot  of  ground  reserved  by 
you  in  our  parish  churchyard.  He  even  came 
over  the  considerable  distance  from  Bishop's 
Pudbury,  and  himself  read  the  shortened  form 
which  he  had  selected  from  the  burial  service. 
For  this  I  was  deeply  thankful,  as  agitation 
might,  I  fear,  have  prevented  my  performing 
the  last  solemn  rites  in  a  suitably  impressive 
manner  —  " 

"  Why,  certainly,  Mr.  Greener,  I  will  go 
and  put  on  my  golfing  suit,"  this  vivaciously 
from  Virginia.  "  It  will  be  cooler  in  an  hour. 
We  shall  have  the  wind  off  the  river.  — 
Willie  Van  Reenan's  theatricals  ?  Yes,  I 
know  it,  Louise  ;  I  am  coming  to  that  directly. 
Now,  Mr.  Greener,  if  you  will  walk  over  to 
her  house  with  Mrs.  Bellingham,  I  will  drive 
around  and  take  you  on  to  the  links.  I  will 
arrange  to  have  Laurence  meet  us  at  the  club 
pavilion.  And,  Louise,  when  you  see  Willie 
tell  him  he  can  come  right  on  here  after  din- 
ner, and  I  will  cast  the  play  with  him.  We 
can  count  on  you  for  Lord  Follington,  Mr. 
Greener  ?  Yes  —  you  really  are  very  kind." 


The  Gateless  Barrier 


Laurence  still  stood  by  the  table  littered  with 
envelopes  and  papers.  He  was  reading  the 
agent's  missive,  or  rather  trying  to  do  so,  for 
the  words  were  not  wholly  easy  to  focus.  His 
eyes  had  a  mist  before  them,  and  a  singular 
sensation  gained  upon  him  —  that  of  the 
inherent  duality  of  his  being.  For  some  time 
now  he  had  only  been  conscious  of  the  exist- 
ence of  the  modern  Laurence  Rivers,  wholly 
and  solely  the  modern  Laurence  Rivers,  and 
he,  baffled  and  discomfited,  by  no  means  at 
his  best.  Now  that  earlier  life,  the  strong 
emotions  and  steady  purposes  of  it,  crowded 
in  on  him  calling  to  and  claiming  him,  until 
his  actual  circumstances  and  surroundings  be- 
came singularly  incredible.  The  heels  of 
Virginia's  very  pretty  shoes  tapped  lightly 
upon  the  butter-coloured  boards  of  the  veran- 
dah. She  straightened  a  chair  or  two,  replaced 
some  magazines  which  slipped  from  a  basket- 
work  lounge  on  to  the  floor.  Her  move- 
ments were  direct  and  deliberate  ;  and  all  the 
while  her  trailing  skirts  made  a  dragging  sound 
like  the  wheels  of  a  little  cart.  In  a  moment 
more  she  would  come  into  the  house.  The 
young  man  tried  to  pull  himself  together;  but 


"The  Gateless  Barrier    321 

it  was  so  unbelievable  to   him,  just  now,  this 
whole  matter  of  Virginia. 

He  looked  across  at  her,  as  he  might  have 
looked  at  the  merest  acquaintance,  and  found 
her  extremely  effective  as  she  came  through  the 
cool,  green  light  of  the  great  living-room,  her 
tall,  slight,  yet  rounded  figure  backed  by  the 
untempered  brightness  of  sky  and  water.  Her 
transparent,  black  muslin  dress  was  thick  with 
beautiful  hand-embroidery  upon  the  tight-fit- 
ting sleeves  and  the  shoulders  of  the  bodice. 
It  was  girt  with  a  soft,  black,  chiffon  girdle, 
knotted  low  down,  emphasising  the  length  of 
the  waist,  and  the  spring  of  the  hips  —  around 
which  her  dress  fitted  very  closely.  Below 
the  knees  her  skirts  stood  away  fanwise,  over  a 
bewildering  arrangement  of  white,  silk  kiltings 
and  flounces,  which  hid  her  feet  and  gave  a 
slightly  Japanese  effect  to  her  costume.  Her 
fair,  brown  hair  was  loosely  waved  and  puffed 
out  over  the  ears.  Her  eyes,  a  light  hazel, 
harmonized  charmingly  with  the  even  tint  of 
her  rather  sallow  skin.  Her  neck  was  notice- 
ably long,  and  her  face  in  shape,  colouring, 
and  feature  bore  an  arresting  resemblance  to 
that  of  certain  of  Botticelli's  Madonnas.  This, 


322     The  Gateless  Barrier 


taken  in  connection  with  her  extremely  fashion- 
able attire  and  her  otherwise  declared  and  com- 
plete modernity,  had  in  it  great  piquancy,  an 
element  trenching  on  actual,  though  uncon- 
scious profanity.  m 

To  Laurence,  looking  at  her  through  the 
eyes  of  that  elder  personality  of  his,  these 
details  and  these  suggestions  were  conspicuous. 
She  presented  a  perfect  example  of  an  im- 
mensely effective  type.  He  recognised  that ; 
yet  he  stared  at  it  in  almost  desperate  wonder, 
and  something  approaching  hopelessness. 

"  Why,  you  are  there  !  "  she  exclaimed.  "  I 
am  glad.  I  wanted  you." 

"  Your  people  have  all  cleared  out,  have  n't 
they?" 

"  Yes,  they  have  gone.  They  had  a  grand 
time,  I  believe.  I  really  think  it  was  very 
well  your  uncle's  death  put  me  into  mourning. 
It  has  afforded  me  the  opportunity  of  giving 
my  family  a  lovely  summer.  It  might  have 
been  a  catastrophe ;  I  have  made  it  into  an 
occasion.  They  appreciate  that." 

Virginia  made  these  statements  with  evident 
self-complacency. 

"  Of   course,"     Laurence    said.      He    still 


The  Gateless  Barrier    323 

stared  at  her.  She  placed  her  hands  on  her 
hips,  smoothing  down  her  close-fitting  skirt. 
Her  hands  were  very  small.  Much  art  had 
been  expended  upon  the  finger  nails. 

"  I  think  it  was  perfectly  sweet  of  Horace 
Greener  to  come  right  on  and  see  me,"  she 
continued.  "It  was  like  a  breath  of  air  from 
the  outside.  And  I  was  glad  he  should  know 
how  finely  everything  was  going.  I  think 
they  all  thought  I  might  feel  a  little  left  over. 
He  knows  now  it  is  they  who  are  left  over. 
—  Laurence,  you  must  hurry.  I  arranged  you 
should  be  at  the  club  pavilion  in  an  hour.  I 
have  to  change  my  dress ;  but  if  it  should  still 
be  very  hot  I  will  not  play.  I  will  have  you 
take  my  place." 

"  Horace  Greener  is  a  charming  fellow,"  he 
answered,  "  all  the  same  I  'm  afraid  I  can't 
play  golf  with  him  this  afternoon." 

"  But  I  told  him  you  would  do  so,"  Virginia 
rejoined,  with  absolute  assurance.  "It  is  set- 
tled. I  never  go  back  on  an  engagement." 

"  Ah !  but  I  'm  afraid  I  do,"  Laurence 
said.  "Specially  in  the  case  of  engagements 
about  the  making  of  which  I  have  not  been 
consulted." 


324     The  Gateless  Barrier 

So  far  the  young  lady  had  been  occupied 
with  her  own  conversation  and  her  own  person 
to  the  exclusion  of  any  particular  observation 
of  her  companion.  Now  she  deigned  to  regard 
him  more  closely. 

"  Dear  me !  "  she  exclaimed,  "you  appear  to 
me  to  be  looking  pretty  wretched." 

"Upon  my  word  I  believe  I  am  pretty 
wretched,"  Laurence  answered,  smiling.  "  My 
home  letters  have  brought  me  some  news  I 
don't  in  the  very  least  like.  It  entails  a 
journey  to  England.  And  instead  of  playing 
golf  with  Horace  Greener,  I  must  take  the 
seven  o'clock  train  to  New  York,  and  see  if 
there  is  a  decent  state-room  vacant  on  any  of 
the  outward-bound  liners." 

It  was,  in  a  way,  characteristic  of  Virginia  that 
her  face,  notwithstanding  her  natural  vivacity, 
possessed  no  great  mobility  or  range  of  expres- 
sion. There  were  such  a  number  of  emotions 
she  had  never  been  called  upon  to  entertain. 
And  now  no  movement  of  appeal  or  regret 
crossed  it.  It  merely  hardened  a  little,  becom- 
ing as  serenely  obstinate  as  heretofore  it  had 
been  serenely  complacent.  She  spoke  with 
exactly  the  same  conviction  and  assurance. 


'The  Gateless  Barrier     325 

"  But  you  cannot  do  that,"  she  said. 

"  Oh,  yes,  but  indeed  I  can,"  Laurence  re- 
plied quite  good-temperedly.  He  felt  so  sin- 
gularly unrelated  to  her,  that  assertion  was 
sufficient.  It  did  not  enter  his  head  to  protest 
or  argue. 

"  You  misunderstand,"  she  said  ;  "  it  is  that 
I  do  not  intend  to  have  you  do  it." 

He  paused  a  moment,  making  an  honest 
effort  to  range  himself  in  line  with  her 
thought. 

"  Oh,  come  along,"  he  began.  But  the 
young  lady  interrupted  him  with  the  same 
unwavering  composure  — 

"  You  place  me  in  an  objectionable  position," 
she  declared,  "  by  forcing  me  to  explain.  That 
is  not  considerate.  You  should  meet  me  half- 
way ;  you  should  be  beforehand  so  as  to  secure 
me  against  the  annoyance  of  referring  to  all 
that.  I  had  determined  to  sink  it.  But  you 
make  that  impossible.  It  is  derogatory  to  me 
to  explain." 

Laurence  sat  down  on  the  arm  of  the  nearest 
chair.  He  felt  curiously  helpless,  and  yet  all 
the  while  he  was  getting  the  bit  between  his 
teeth.  If  obstinacy  was  about,  well,  he  had 


326     The  Gateless  Barrier 

his  share  of  it.  Across  the  Atlantic  matters 
of  such  profound  moment  were  awaiting  him. 
It  was  difficult  to  reckon  seriously  and  court- 
eously with  this  unlooked-for  opposition,  and 
not  to  brush  it  impatiently  aside.  It  seemed 
little  short  of  ridiculous. 

"  I  give  you  my  word,  Virginia,  I  don't 
know  what  you  are  talking  about,"  he  said. 
"  I  have  the  most  cogent  reasons  for  going 
over  —  you  have  n't  given  me  an  opportunity 
of  stating  them  yet,  but  that  does  n't  alter  the 
fact.  It  is  necessary  I  should  go  ;  and  after 
all,  you  know,  I  am  not  such  a  conceited  ass 
as  to  imagine  you  can't  do  without  me  for  three 
weeks  or  so." 

"  I  am  not  thinking  of  myself,  I  am  think- 
ing of  others,"  she  remarked,  with  a  certain 
naivete. 

Laurence  smiled. 

"  Oh,  in  that  case  I  can  book  my  passage 
with  a  clear  conscience,"  he  said. 

But  the  young  lady  continued  :  — 

"It  is  extraordinary  to  me  how  little  regard 
you  have  for  appearances.  Comments  were 
made  upon  the  length  of  your  former  absence. 
Thev  came  round  to  me.  That  was  not  to  be 


The  Gateless  Barrier     327 

endured  in  the  case  of  my  husband.  I  put  a 
stop  to  all  that  by  cabling  for  you." 

"  Ah !  yes,  I  see,"  Laurence  said  slowly. 
"  When  I  arrived  there  certainly  seemed  no 
very  obvious  reason  for  the  sending  of  that 
cable.  That  was  unlike  you.  When  I 
thought  of  it  I  confess  I  was  puzzled." 

"  If  you  leave  again  after  so  short  a  stay,  it 
will  give  colour  to  those  comments."  Virginia 

D  O 

spoke  with  emphasis,  almost  with  solemnity. 
"  I  do  not  propose  to  submit  to  that.  So  you 
must  choose,  Laurence.  Either  you  must 
give  up  going,  or  you  must  wait  till  it  is  con- 
venient to  me  to  go  with  you.  I  do  not  care 
for  a  summer  voyage  ;  it  is  dull.  Between 
the  seasons  nobody  one  ever  heard  of  is  cross- 
ing. One  may  meet  the  wrong  people.  My 
leaving  would  cause  great  disappointment  here. 
It  would  break  up  their  summer.  Still  I 
would  risk  that  to  avoid  the  other.  It  would 
be  a  scramble  too,  and  nothing  is  more  annoy- 
ing than  a  scramble,  but  I  dare  say  I  could 
arrange  to  be  ready  in  two  weeks  from  now." 

"  That 's  very  good  of  you,"  Laurence  re- 
plied. "  But  unfortunately  I  must  go  at  once, 
and,  pardon  my  saying  so,  it  will  be  better  for 


328      The  Gateless  Barrier 

me  to  go  alone.  Everything  is  at  sixes  and 
sevens.  Confusion  reigns  at  Stoke  Rivers. 
I  would  not  take  you  there  under  existing 
circumstances.  You  'd  receive  a  quite  wrong 
impression.  Oh,  it  would  be  utterly  dis- 
astrous ! "  he  exclaimed. 

For  the  first  time  he  beheld  Virginia  depart 
from  her  faultless  self-complacency,  lose  her- 
self a  little  and  display  signs  of  anger.  Her 
chin  went  up  with  a  quick  jerk,  her  eyes 
flashed,  her  features  seemed  for  the  moment 
swollen.  This  shocked  him,  it  was  so  wholly 
unprecedented.  He  felt  very  sorry,  as  though 
he  had  been  careless  and  clumsy,  as  though  he 
had  broken  something  hitherto  flawless,  and 
therefore  charming,  if  not  of  supreme  intrinsic 
value. 

"I  begin  to  believe,"  she  cried,  "you  have 
an  intention  I  shall  never  see  Stoke  Rivers  at 
all." 

"  No,  no,  my  dear,"  he  answered  rapidly, 
rising  as  he  spoke.  "  Nothing  of  the  kind. 
You  are  very  distinctly  mistaken.  I  have 
never  been  more  ready  that  you  should  see 
Stoke  Rivers  than  within  the  last  hour  —  that 
is,  when  Stoke  Rivers  is  fit  to  be  seen.  The 


The  Gateless  Barrier     329 

poor,  old  house  seems  to  have  been  in  jeop- 
ardy of  final  disappearance  about  a  week  ago. 
There  's  where  my  bad  news  comes  in.  They 
write  me  word  of  a  nasty  fire  there.  Nobody's 
fault  —  an  electric  light  wire  heated,  and  not 
being  properly  cased  charred  some  of  the 
panelling  which  finally  caught  alight.  The 
house  has  been  kept  at  such  a  high  tempera- 
ture for  years,  that  the  woodwork  is  like  so 
much  tinder." 

Virginia's  chin  was  still  in  the  air,  but  she 
had  in  great  measure  recovered  her  self- 
control.  Her  manner  was  rather  elaborately 
cold. 

"  That  is  a  pity,"  she  said  calmly.  "  But,  of 
course,  the  house  and  its  contents  are  insured." 

"  Oh,  yes,  the  loss  is  more  a  matter  of 
sentiment  than  of  money.  Only  one  room 
is  burnt  out,  as  far  as  I  can  gather;  and  it 
did  n't  contain  any  very  valuable  pictures,  or 
any  part  of  my  uncle's  collection." 

"  Probably  it  is  as  well  this  fire  occurred, 
then,"  Virginia  observed.  "  I  have  always 
supposed  Stoke  Rivers  would  need  some 
reconstruction  before  it  came  up  to  the  level 
of  modern  requirements." 


33°     The  Gate/ess  Barrier 

"  Possibly  —  "  he  spoke  rather  drily.  "  Only, 
you  see,  I  happened  to  entertain  a  peculiar 
fondness  for  this  particular  room,  and  I  am 
sorry  to  part  with  the  outward  and  visible 
signs  of  certain  memories." 

The  young  lady  did  not  answer  imme- 
diately, but  examined  the  dial-plate  of  the 
little  watch,  set  in  diamonds,  upon  her  wrist. 

"  The  carriage  will  be  here,"  she  said.  "  I 
have  not  time  to  change  my  dress.  I  cannot 
play  golf  with  Horace  Greener.  It  is  very 
embarrassing.  I  have  no  valid  excuse  to  offer 
him." 

"  Oh,  the  heat,  my  dear,  the  heat,"  Lau- 
rence said,  smiling.  "  Any  excuse  is  valid 
if  you  make  it  with  sufficient  conviction." 

Virginia  looked  hard  at  him.  —  "I  wonder 
just  what  you  mean  by  that,"  she  retorted. 
She  put  up  her  hand,  puffing  her  hair  out 
a  little  more  over  her  ears.  "  That  fire  was 
not  very  serious  on  your  own  admission," 
she  continued,  "  I  cannot  see  that  it  necessi- 
tates your  hurrying  over  with  this  frantic 
haste.  And  if  I  am  to  live  in  it  it  would 
be  desirable  I  should  overlook  the  recon- 
struction of  the  house  myself." 


'The  Gateless  Barrier     331 

Her  tone  was  meditative.  Her  statements 
were  concise.  Laurence  felt  his  back  against 
the  wall.  He  must  take  the  consequences 
of  his  own  action  however  distasteful  and  dis- 
agreeable. His  course  would  have  been  very 
obvious  had  his  record  been  quite  clean  in 
regard  to  Virginia ;  but,  he  was  an  honest 
man.  Something  of  exquisite,  of  incalculable 
value  had  tempted  him ;  and  the  peculiari- 
ties of  his  temperament  had  heightened  that 
temptation.  He  had  been  saved  from  falling, 
not  by  his  own  virtue,  but  by  the  virtue  and 
self-sacrifice  of  one  adorably  his  superior.  He 
could  not  plume  himself  upon  the  achieve- 
ment. He  acknowledged  that  his  conscience 
was  not  clear  in  respect  of  Virginia  ;  and  this 
necessitated  the  payment  of  a  heavy  penalty 
in  connection  with  his  own  self-esteem.  His 
pride  rebelled  against  "  giving  himself  away," 
against  further  self-revelation  ;  only,  the  logic 
of  the  situation  prevailed.  It  cut  him  to  the 
quick,  yet  it  had  to  be  done. 

"You're  quite  right,"  he  said.  "The 
matter  of  the  fire  could  have  waited  a  little, 
I  dare  say,  though  it  is  n't  exactly  satisfactory 
to  know  part  of  one's  house  is  roofless  under 


332     The  Gate/ess  Barrier 

a  wet,  English,  July  sky  ;  but  I  had  other 
bad  news  to-day."  He  paused  a  moment. 
"  I  heard  of  the  funeral  of  a  very  dear  con- 
nection of  mine." 

Virginia  moved  slightly,  sweeping  those 
fanwise-cut  flounces  to  one  side. 

"Funeral?"  she  said  quickly.  "Really 
you  have  the  very  oddest  manner  of  state- 
ment. Had  you  not  already  heard  of  his 
death,  then  ?  " 

The  young  man  moved  too.  He  turned 
away,  and  a  poignant  sensation  tore  and 
hacked  at  him,  so  to  speak.  It  hurt  him 
physically.  He  gazed  out  over  the  dazzling 
whiteness  of  the  smooth  river  seeing  nothing, 
his  whole  being  tense  with  the  effort  to  resist 
the  showing  of  that  pain. 

"  Yes,  yes,  I  have  heard  of  her  death,  but 
I  refused  to  believe  it,"  he  answered. 

There  was  a  moment  of  ominous  silence, 
save  for  the  shrilling  of  the  insects,  and  lap- 
ping of  the  stream. 

"  Oh,  a  woman  !  "  she  said,  with  an  almost 
alarming  calm.  "  Have  I  ever  heard  of 
her  ?  " 

tf  I  think  not,"  Laurence  answered. 


The  Gateless  Barrier     333 

"Then  Louise  had  grounds  for  her  asser- 
tions," she  said,  still  with  that  deadly  calm. 
"  I  thought  it  unworthy  to  listen.  I  forbade 
her  to  write  or  speak  to  me  upon  the  subject. 
I  —  " 

Laurence  wheeled  round.  His  eyes  were 
dangerous.  All  the  fanaticism  of  his  race, 
and  something  finer  than  that,  looked  out 
of  them. 

"  Think  what  you  please  of  me,"  he  cried  ; 
"  but  of  her,  think  no  evil.  Never  dare  to 
think  any  evil.  She  was  one  of  the  saints 
of  God ;  and  you,  of  all  women,  have  no 
cause  to  misjudge  her.  She  saved  me  from 
committing  a  great  sin." 

A  singular  expression  crossed  the  young 
lady's  face,  an  imperious  desire  to  ask,  to  search 
out  the  ultimate  of  the  matter.  But  it  was 
momentary.  Spoilt  child  of  fortune,  she  was 
too  unaccustomed  to  vital  drama  to  know  how 
to  deal  with  it.  It  staggered,  it  also  slightly 
disgusted  her.  She  could  not  rise  to  it.  So 
conventionality  proved  stronger  than  even  this 
very  legitimate  curiosity.  Virginia  remained 
true  to  her  somewhat  artificial  traditions,  to 
her  own  canons  of  good  taste  and  self-respect, 


334     "The  Gateless  Barrier 

to  that  singular  clause  of  the  social  creed  which 
declares  the  thing  unsaid  also  non-existent. 
Virginia  appeared,  in  a  way,  admirable  just 
then,  yet  she  gave  the  measure  of  her  nature. 
It  was  not  great.  She  turned  aside,  with  a 
movement  of  well-defined  and  lofty  superiority. 

"  Are  you  aware  that  you  become  very  in- 
delicate ? "  she  asked. 

"  Most  men  are  indelicate  at  times,  unfor- 
tunately." 

"  But  not  over  here,"  she  said.  "  American 
women  do  not  permit  that.  You  must  remem- 
ber whom  you  have  married." —  She  waited  a 
little.  "  The  English  standards  are  different,  I 
presume,"  she  added,  not  without  a  touch  of 
sarcasm. 

"  I  begin  to  think  they  are,"  Laurence 
answered.  —  He  was  paying,  paying  abomina- 
bly; yet  there  was  a  sensible  relief  in  so  doing. 
—  "  They  are  based  on  the  logic  of  fact,"  he 
continued.  "  And  fact  is  more  often  indelicate 
than  not.  It  has  never  yet,  you  see,  learned  to 
be  a  respecter  of  persons." 

There  was  a  pause,  in  which  once  again  the 
fiddlings  of  the  grasshoppers  and  soothing  lap 
of  the  water  became  audible. 


The  Gateless  Barrier     335 

"  Do  you  still  propose  to  go  to  England  ?  " 

Laurence  nodded.     "Yes,"  he  said. 

"  Then  " —  began  Virginia  ;  but  the  young 

man  held  up  his  hand,  partly  in  warning,  partly 

demanding    a    cessation    of    hostilities.       His 

thought  had  taken  a  new  departure  in  regard 

to  his  wife.     Somehow  she  had  destroyed  her 

own  legend.     She  was  more  slight  and  shallow 

o  o 

a  creature  than  he  had  supposed,  and  he  would 
never  really  stand  in  awe  of  her  again.  His 
smile  was  sad  yet  wholly  friendly. 

"  Then  —  in  a  couple  of  weeks  or  so  —  I 
shall  come  back  and  fetch  you,"  he  declared. 
"  And  then,  like  wise  and  politic  human 
beings,  we  will  eschew  controversy,  each  giving 
the  other  as  much  room  as  possible.  I  fancy 
you  '11  find  we  shall  shake  down  pretty  easily, 
and  rub  along  like  most  other  married  people. 
—  Meanwhile  what  's  becoming  of  poor,  neg- 
lected Horace  Greener  ?  Go  and  amuse  both 
yourself  and  him,  my  dear.  If  you  're  not 
in  before  I  start  —  well  —  for  the  moment, 
addio." 


XXV 

IT  was  all  very  much  in  keeping  with  his 
mood  —  the  reposeful  landscape,  heavy 
with  the  solid  green  of  the  August  foliage, 
the  sweep  of  the  low,  grey  sky,  the  warm, 
still  rain  which  drew  forth  an  indefinable  fra- 
grance from  the  pastures  and  hedgerows,  the 
wayside  flowers,  and  the  underwood.  Already 
the  evenings  had  begun  to  shorten.  The 
rambling  village-street  and  its  inevitable  com- 
motion of  boys  and  dogs  left  behind,  Laurence 
looked  away,  with  a  stirring  of  the  heart,  over 
this  goodly  land  of  which  he  was  owner,  as  the 
brown  thorough-bred  breasted  the  hilly  road 
leading  up  from  the  station  to  Stoke  Rivers 
house.  The  prospect  at  once  soothed  and 
stimulated  him.  Emotion  had  been  conspic- 
uous principally  by  its  absence  lately  ;  it  was 
pleasant  to  feel  again. 

At  the  hall-door  the  two  men-servants  met 
him;  and  Renshaw's  large,  egg-shaped  counte- 
nance bore  an  expression  almost  paternal. 

"  Excuse  me,  sir,"  he  said,  his  complexion 
ripening  to  mulberry  with  the  effort  of  speech 
—  "I  do  not  wish  to  put  myself  forward,  or 


The  Gateless  Barrier    337 

go  beyond  my  place,  but  I  must  express  the 
pleasure  we  take  in  welcoming  you  home,  sir. 
I  speak  not  only  for  myself,  but  for  Mr. 
Lowndes  and  Mr.  Watkins,  and  all  the  other 
servants  —  both  upper  and  under,  sir." 

Lowndes,  the  grey-haired,  long-armed  valet, 
subsequently  gave  vent  to  even  more  cordial 
sentiments. 

"  Excepting  for  the  fire,  we  have  been  very 
dull  during  your  absence,  sir,"  he  said,  as  he 
laid  out  the  young  man's  dress  clothes,  with 
a  critical  eye  to  their  packing  which  did  not 
evidently  quite  commend  itself  to  his  taste. 
"  Living  in  this  house  has  been  like  living 
inside  a  run-down  clock.  I  hope  you  have 
returned  to  make  some  stay,  sir.  We  want  a 
head  ;  we  have  forgotten  how  to  take  a  holi- 
day and  amuse  ourselves.  Our  habits  have 
been  so  very  regular  for  so  many  years,  you 
see,  sir,  we  feel  lost  without  our  accustomed 
duties." 

This  too  was  pleasant.  To  be  precious  in 
the  sight  of  those  who  serve  you  lends  a  singu- 
lar graciousness  to  the  conduct  of  daily  life. 
Laurence  felt  at  harmony  with  himself  and  his 
surroundings,  and  with  that  sense  of  harmony 


22 


338     The  Gateless  Barrier 

arose  certain  stirrings  of  hope.  During  the 
days  and  nights  of  the  past  week,  while  the 
great  ship  ploughed  her  way  eastward  across 
the  mighty  ridge  and  furrow  of  the  Atlantic,  he 
had  not  been  wholly  unconscious  of  that  hope 
—  the  hope  that  even  now  all  might  not  be 
over,  and  that  he  might  once  again  be  blessed 
by  the  vision,  for  however  brief  a  space,  of  his 
dear  fairy-lady.  Yet  he  had  kept  that  hope 
under  with  a  stern  hand.  It  was  present,  but 
at  the  postern  gate,  so  to  speak,  of  the  castle 
of  his  reason  and  his  will.  He  kept  it  there, 
doing  his  heart  much  violence  by  refusing  it 
admittance  and  entertainment,  since  he  knew 
that,  once  admitted,  it  would  have  proved  so 
dangerously  absorbing  and  alluring  a  guest. 
He  tried  to  deny  it  admittance  still  ;  yet  he 
shuffled  a  little  with  his  own  conscience,  per- 
mitting himself  a  renewing  of  the  routine 
which  had  marked  his  former  sojourn  at  Stoke 
Rivers.  He  dressed,  dined,  and  waited  until 
the  twilight  had  very  sensibly  closed  in  before 
visiting  that  which  might  remain  of  the  room 
of  mysterious  and  enchanted  meetings. 

The   near  end  of  the  corridor  offered   no 
noticeable  signs  of  disturbance  or  injury.     Still 


The  Gate/ess  Barrier    339 

it  appeared  to  Laurence  that,  as  on  a  former 
occasion,  a  spirit  of  disorder,  the  winnowing 
wings  of  a  profound  and  elemental  fear,  had  but 
lately  swept  through  it.  He  could  have  imag- 
ined the  sightless,  marble  faces  of  the  Roman 
emperors  less  impassive,  less  wholly  scornful, 
their  heads  carried  with  something  less  of  arro- 
gant and  invincible  pride.  An  acrid  odour  of 
burned  stuffs,  burned  woodwork,  pervaded  the 
place.  He  had  cabled  instructions  that  nothing 
might  be  removed,  nothing  renovated  before 
his  arrival.  The  tapestry  curtain  still  hung  in 
its  accustomed  position  ;  but  it  was  blackened 
and  shrivelled  to  the  obliteration  of  the  figures 
wrought  upon  it.  The  satyr  no  longer  leered, 
from  his  monticule,  upon  the  naked  and  re- 
luctant woman  hurried  towards  him  by  the 
company  of  naughty  loves.  Tongues  of  fire 
had  licked  away  that  pictured  wantonness  and 
purged  its  offence. 

Behind  the  wreck  of  the  portiere,  the  door 
—  its  panels  split  and  tormented  by  flame  — 
stood  wide  open,  as  on  the  night  when,  strain- 
ing every  muscle  to  carry  that  apparently  so 
light  and  fragile  burden,  Laurence  had  lifted 
Agnes  Rivers  across  the  threshold.  Once 


34°     'The  Gateless  Barrier 

within  the  yellow  drawing-room  the  desolation  of 
that  heretofore  gracious  and  friendly  apartment 
touched  hard  on  tragedy,  seen,  as  now,  in  the 
furtive,  evening  light.  The  rain  had  ceased,  and 
through  the  remaining  sheets  of  glass,  in  the 
partially  boarded  and  barricaded  bay-window, 
the  flower-beds  of  the  Italian  garden  showed 
in  rich  variety  of  leaf  and  blossom.  The 
statues  gleamed  calm  and  graceful  from  their 
white  pedestals.  The  spires  of  the  cypresses 
rose  with  a  certain  velvet  softness  of  density 
towards  the  pensive  and  slowly  clearing  sky. 
But  the  room  itself  was  ruined  in  most  un- 
sightly fashion,  stained  by  smoke,  rendered 
clammy  and  dank  in  places  by  water.  Wreck- 
age of  the  pretty,  costly  furniture  lay  scattered 
in  formless  heaps  upon  the  blackened  floor  — 
with  here  and  there  a  shred  of  fine  porcelain, 
the  gilt  handle  of  a  drawer,  the  pages  of  a 
book  reduced  to  tinder,  or  the  unlovely  rem- 
nant of  carpet  or  hanging.  It  was  as  a  place 
that  has  suffered  siege,  and  which  relentless 
foemen  have  sacked  and  trodden  underfoot. 
So  that  it  came  to  Laurence,  very  surely,  that 
not  here  would  he  find  his  sweet  fairy-lady, 
were  he  indeed  destined,  in  this  life,  ever  to 


T'he  Gateless  Barrier     341 

find'  her  again.  Her  gentle  spirit  could  never 
be  subjected  to  the  indignity  of  dwelling  amid 
this  scene  of  destruction.  Some  incongruities 
are  inadmissible  to  the  imagination.  They  are 
too  violent,  too  gross.  Therefore  the  days 
of  his  beloved  companion's  pilgrimage  were 
ended  —  it  could  not  be  otherwise  —  in  re- 
spect of  this  once  so  comely  place. 

But  though  convinced  that  here  it  was  use- 
less to  await  her  presence,  there  remained 
somewhat  for  Laurence  in  all  tenderness  and 
reverence  to  see.  Since  the  electric  light  was 
now  unavailable,  he  had  ordered  candles  to  be 
placed  upon  the  chimney-piece,  which,  though 
yellow  and  disfigured,  still  remained  practically 
intact.  He  moved  across  from  the  neighbour- 
hood of  the  doorway  —  sad,  little  clouds  of 
corpse-coloured  ashes  arising  about  his  feet  as 
he  stepped  —  and  put  a  match  to  the  candles. 
Then,  as  the  light  of  them  strengthened  and 
steadied,  he  looked,  shading  his  eyes  with  his 
hand,  towards  that  portion  of  the  wall  at  right 
angles  to  which  the  painted,  satin-wood  escri- 
toire, with  all  its  pathetic  store  of  cherished 
love-tokens,  had  formerly  stood.  The  high 
wainscot  and  brocade-covered  panels  masking 


342     T'he  Gateless  Barrier 

this  space  had  been  entirely  burned  away,  dis- 
closing a  low,  vaulted  chamber  hollowed  out 
of  the  thickness  of  the  outer  wall.  This 
chamber  had  been  roughly  and  somewhat 
clumsily  ceiled.  The  whole  construction 
showed  unmistakeable  traces  of  hasty  and  un- 
skilled labour. 

Yet  Laurence  looked  at  this  rough-hewn 
place  of  sepulture  with  an  infinite  tenderness, 
a  chastened  reverence,  while  a  very  vital  emo- 
tion clutched  at  his  throat,  and  far-reaching 
questions  of  life  past,  life  future,  and  the 
august  purposes  of  being  through  the  abysm 
of  the  ages  and  on  to  the  ultimate  goal  of 
things,  held  and  sifted  his  intelligence  and  his 
heart.  For  it  was  here,  upon  the  morning 
following  the  fire,  that  Agnes  Rivers's  coffin 
had  been  found.  And  it  was  from  here,  from 
this  hard  and  narrow  bed  —  by  what  alchemy 
and  agency  he  knew  not  —  it  transcended  his 
powers  to  conceive  —  that  her  sweet  ghost  had 
come  forth  nightly,  through  all  those  long  and 
dreary  years  of  which  it  sickened  him  to  think, 
flitting  impalpable,  in  vain  endeavour  to  find 
the  key  to  her  little  treasure  chest,  that  was 
also  the  key  to  the  love  she  had  so  patheti- 


The  Gateless  Barrier    343 

cally  lost.  And  it  was  here  also,  to  this  same 
hard  and  narrow  bed,  that  she  had  returned 
with  quick  and  innocently  gladsome  farewells 
in  the  first  flush  of  returning  day,  when  that 
love,  by  unprecedented  circumstance —  circum- 
stance trenching  on  actual  miracle  —  had  been 
restored  to  her. 

Viewing  that  harsh  and  meagre  resting-place 
which  for  the  better  part  of  a  century  had  held 
all  that  remained  of  her  dear  body,  Laurence 
felt  himself  strangely  reconciled  to  actual  hap- 
penings. For  it  was  better,  ten  thousand  times 
better,  that  all  now  subsisting  of  her  mortal 
investiture  should  rest  in  Mother  Earth's  lap 
—  blessed  and  set  apart  by  the  faith  and  piety 
of  ages  as  was  that  pleasant  plot  of  sun-visited 
grass,  where  the  little  shadows  danced  and 
beckoned,  in  the  age-old  quiet  of  Stoke  Rivers's 
churchyard.  There  he  would  go  and  watch 
for  her  possible  coming,  and  pay  her  the 
homage  of  his  devotion,  when  the  small  hours 
drew  on  towards  to-morrow's  dawn. 

Meanwhile  there  was  time  to  be  passed,  and 
he  did  not  care  to  leave  this  spot,  though  its 
present  desolation  tore  at  his  very  vitals,  with 
memories  of  incalculable  promise,  and  of  un- 


344     'The  Gateless  Barrier 

consummated  delight.  As,  awakening  from 
his  dream  of  satisfied  love  long  ago,  during 
that  strange  former  existence,  in  the  summer 
noon  under  the  light,  sibilant  shelter  of  the 
lime  grove,  so  now  he  hungered  for  complete- 
ness of  possession,  for  the  crowning  of  desire. 
Yet  he  kept  himself  in  hand,  even  as  he  had 
kept  the  young,  brown,  thorough-bred  horse 
in  hand,  when,  finding  the  level,  would  have 
broken  its  pace  and  run  riot  more  than  once 
on  the  road  up  from  the  station.  He  moved 
away  and  sat  down  on  the  defaced  and  ragged 
sill  of  the  bay-window.  The  moon  had  risen, 
but  its  mild  light  was  often  obscured  by  softly- 
moving  floats  of  thin,  opalescent  vapour. 
These  crossed  its  face  in  apparently  endless 
procession,  herded  up  from  southward  and  the 
narrow  Channel  sea.  Laurence  watched  them, 
at  first  almost  unconsciously,  his  mind  occu- 
pied with  other,  and,  to  himself,  more  immedi- 
ate and  vital  interests.  But  at  length  their 
slow  and  stately  progress  began  to  work  upon 
his  imagination,  and  insinuate  itself  into  the 
very  substance  and  foundation  of  his  thought. 
He  began  to  see  in  them  a  procession  of  the 
souls  of  all  those  generations  of  men  and 


The  Gateless  Barrier    345 

women,  whose  efforts  and  emotions,  power  of 
intellect,  fiercely  pursued  ambitions,  passionate 
devotions,  passionate  revolts,  had  gone  to  gen- 
erate his  own  constitution,  mental  and  physical, 
and  determine  his  ultimate  fate.  And  so  he 
came  to  regard  them  with  a  sustained  and 
deepening  attention,  since  their  aspect  seemed 
pregnant  with  suggestion  of  admonition,  of 
encouragement,  of  warning,  or  restraint.  Once 
again  he  decided  to  keep  vigil  in  this  house,  to 
watch  with  the  unnumbered  and  unrecorded 
dead  whose  offspring  and  inheritor  he  was. 
Not  until  all  of  them  should  have  passed 
by,  and  the  moon  ride  solitary  in  the  heavens, 
would  he  go  across  the  valley  —  himself  now 
somewhat  bitterly  solitary  —  and  visit  Agnes 
Rivers's  grave. 

But  that  procession  of  low-floating  vapours 
proved  long  in  passing.  More  than  once  a 
break  came  in  it,  making  the  young  man  sup- 
pose that  the  whole  of  them  was  gone  by. 
And  then  again,  out  of  the  south,  now  one 
alone,  now  in  close  ranged  companies,  strangely 
shaped,  as  though  draped  in  dragging  shrouds, 
that  interminable  procession  crossed  the  vault 
of  the  sky.  A  terror  of"  incalculable  number, 


346     'The  Gateless  Barrier 

of  unthinkable  multitude,  began  to  lay  hold 
on  him,  as  still  they  came,  and  came.  Was  it 
conceivable  that  each  human  life  had  this  al- 
most appalling  vista  of  human  lives  behind  it, 
of  which  it  was  the  outcome  and  result,  and  in 
which  it  had,  consciously  or  unconsciously, 
taken  part?  There  was  a  certain  splendour 
in  the  thought,  though  it  left  but  little  room 
for  personal  vanity.  Yet  even  while  watching, 
and  pondering  of  all  this,  the  personal  note 
remained  —  for  he  pondered  also,  not  without 
profound  discouragement,  of  his  great  adven- 
ture which  just  now  appeared  so  signally  to 
have  failed.  At  the  half  hours  and  hours  the 
striking  clocks  warned  him  that  the  night  was 
far  spent,  but  still  that  endless  and  mystic  pro- 
cession passed  before  his  watching  eyes.  As 
once  before,  in  this  same  room,  his  indi- 
viduality seemed  to  sink  away  from  him, 
while  a  horrible  sense  of  his  own  nullity  and 
nothingness  prevailed.  But  at  last,  at  last, 
when  the  first  chill  grey  of  the  dawn  began 
just  perceptibly  to  lighten  the  horizon  behind 
the  lime  grove,  the  last  of  these  trailing  va- 
pours arose,  passed  over  and  disappeared. 
The  moon  declined  towards  her  setting,  yet, 


The  Gateless  Barrier    347 

though  she  hung  low,  the  whole  field  of 
heaven  was  at  length  her  own. 

Then  Laurence  rose,  and  went  away  across 
the  quiet  park  and  up  the  deep,  tree-shadowed 
lane  to  the  churchyard,  on  the  hillside  across 
the  valley,  sheltered  by  the  bank  of  high-lying 
woods.  The  grass  was  long,  starred  with  tall- 
growing  buttercups,  blue  speedwell,  and  ox-eye 
daisies,  heavy  and  hanging  with  wet.  Only 
the  plot  beneath  the  grey  wall  of  the  little 
chancel  was  neatly  mown,  while,  on  the  near 
side  of  it,  conspicuous  from  the  smooth  surface 
of  the  turf  rising  immediately  surrounding  it, 
was  a  new-made  grave.  The  sods  covering  it 
were  kept  in  place  by  a  cage  of  osier  rods. 
Some  one  —  and  Laurence  found  it  in  his 
heart  to  bless  that  unknown  ministrant  —  had 
laid  a  spray  of  pink  wild-rose  upon  the  head 
of  the  grave,  twisted  into  a  little  crown,  at 
once  of  blossom  and  of  thorns. 

Laurence  stood  at  the  foot  of  the  long, 
narrow  mound,  and  again  he  kept  vigil  — 
hearing  the  breathing  of  the  moist  earth,  the 
quick  sounds  of  the  woodland,  and  that 
strange,  indeterminate,  stirring  of  awakening 
life  —  beast,  bird,  insect,  herb,  and  tree  — 


348      The  Gateless  Barrier 

which  immediately  precedes  the  birth  of  day. 
More  than  once  his  heart  thumped  against  his 
ribs,  and  the  love-light  sprang  into  his  eyes, 
for,  deceived  by  the  growing  colour  of  the 
east,  he  fancied  for  an  instant  he  again  be- 
held the  dear  rose-red  of  his  fairy-lady's 
clinging,  old-world,  silken  gown.  But  that 
fond  delusion  was  soon  dissipated.  Wherever 
her  light  footsteps  might  now  tread,  they 
would  never,  in  visible  fashion,  tend  earth- 
wards again. 

Then  on  a  sudden,  from  the  stables  up  at 
the  house,  came  the  crowing  of  a  cock,  an- 
swered in  gallant  challenge  from  cottage  and 
from  farmyard  —  growing  faint  in  the  far  dis- 
tance, ringing  out  again  close  at  hand,  lusty 
and  vigorous,  full  of  the  joy  of  living.  Stung 
by  the  merry  sound,  Laurence  straightened 
himself  up,  looked  away  from  the  osier-bound, 
rose-crowned  grave,  over  the  fertile,  peaceful 
landscape.  The  hops  hung  heavy  upon  the 
poles.  The  corn  warmed  to  ruddy  yellow. 
The  grass  and  hedgerows,  as  the  sun's  rays 
touched  them,  glittered  with  a  thousand  dia- 
mond points,  even  as  his  lost  love's  little, 
embroidered  slippers  had  glittered  when  he 


The  Gateless  Barrier     349 

first  led  her  forth  along  the  alleys  of  the 
Italian  garden.  A  glad  wind  swept  up  land- 
ward, from  that  great  thoroughfare  of  the 
nations,  that  highway  of  stately  ships,  the 
narrow  Channel  sea.  It  raced  through  the 
woodland,  swayed  the  sombre,  plume-like 
branches  of  the  ancient  yew-trees,  and  passed, 
exultant,  to  fulfil  its  cleanly,  life-giving  mission 
elsewhere.  Laurence  took  a  long  breath,  fill- 
ing his  lungs  with  it.  It  was  good  to  taste, 
sane  and  wholesome.  And  then,  somehow, 
those  divine  words  came  to  him,  spoken  in 
the  far  Syrian  country  nearly  two  thousand 
years  ago.  — "  The  wind  bloweth  where  it 
listeth,  and  thou  hearest  the  sound  thereof, 
but  canst  not  tell  whence  it  cometh,  and- 
whither  it  goeth  :  so  is  every  one  that  is/ 
born  of  the  Spirit." 

Laurence  stood  erect  and  very  still,  his 
head  held  high,  his'  face  keen,  his  lips  parted 
in  silent  laughter,  his  whole  being  vibrant 
with  the  surprise  of  a  great  conviction,  a  great 
discovery.  For  at  length  he  too  saw  and 
understood.  He  perceived  that  his  love  far 
from  being  lost  was  his,  close  and  intimately, 
as  she  had  never  been  before,  in  either  this 


35°     The  Gateless  Barrier 

life,  or  that  other  half-remembered  life,  in 
both  of  which  he  had  loved  her  so  well.  He 
perceived  that  his  amazing  and  desperate 
experiment,  far  from  being  a  failure,  was  on  a 
high-road  to  a  success  hitherto  undreamed  of. 
He  perceived  that  his  splendid  adventure,  far 
from  being  ended,  had  but  just  begun ;  and 
that,  could  he  but  keep  faith  with  his  present 
seeing,  it  would  not  end  until  he  too  had 
pushed  back  the  heavy  curtain,  and  finally 
crossed  the  threshold  of  so-called  death.  Nor 
would  it  end  even  then,  were  light  lived  in 
the  light  of  this  his  present  seeing.  The 
future  was  illimitable,  since  the  goal  of  it  was 
nothing  less  than  union  with  the  Divine  Prin- 
ciple itself.  However  innumerable  the  com- 
pany of  human  lives  that  had  gone  to  produce 
his  own,  his  individuality  was  secure  hence- 
forth, since  he  had  recognised  and  embraced 
the  life  which  alone  eternally  exists  and  sub- 
sists —  the  life  in,  and  of,  God. 

Five  months  ago,  crossing  the  Atlantic,  in 
the  chill  of  the  March  night,  while  the  big 
ship  steamed  eastward  and  the  stars  danced 
in  the  rigging  as  she  sunk  and  swung  in  the 
trough  and  then  rose  —  as  a  horse  at  a  fence 


The  Gateless  Barrier     351 

—  at  the  coming  wave,  he  had  asked  himself 
the  question  as  to  the  profit  of  gaining  the 
whole  world,  if  in  so  doing  a  man  should  lose 
his  own  soul.  All  his  experience  since  then 
had  been  a  setting  of  that  vital  question  at  rest 
for  ever.  For  he  had  found  his  soul.  The 
matter  was  simply  to  the  point  of  laughter, 
when  once  apprehended.  In  bidding  him 
farewell,  his  sweet  companion  had  promised 
him  that  she  and  he  would  at  last  be  made 
one,  being  one  with  Almighty  God.  He  had 
heard  that  as  he  might  mere  rhetoric,  idle 
though  pretty  words,  placing  it  in  some  un 
imaginable  future,  his  mind  still  in  bondage  to 
human  conception  of  time  and  space.  Now 
he  beheld  this  consummation  as  already 
accomplished,  immediately  present,  constant, 
here,  now,  permanent.  All  that  it  needed  was 
just  an  attitude  and  habit  of  mind,  and  then 
work.  Work,  not  so  much  for  any  great 
benefit  derivable  by  others  from  that  work 
(though  the  desire  of  the  welfare  of  others 
must  be  a  fundamental  element  in  that  work) ; 
but  for  the  maintenance  of  the  said  all-impor- 
tant attitude  and  habit  of  mind  in  himself. 
Almost  any  work  would  do.  There  was  his 


352     The  Gateless  Barrier 

property  ;  and,  happily,  sufficient  of  the  feudal 
idea  still  remains  in  England  to  make  the 
possession  of  a  great  landed-estate  fruitful  in 
humane  relations  between  class  and  class. 
There  was  the  dear  earth,  too,  to  till  and  sow, 
and  render  more  fertile,  and  more  useful  to 
man.  There  were  politics  and  public  affairs. 
In  the  light  of  his  present  illumination  he  dare 
approach  these  things,  strong  to  carve  out  a 
career  for  himself,  yet  for  ever  keeping  his 
secret  against  his  heart.  Salvation  is  for  theix- 
individual,  each  individual  must  find  it  for  him' 
or  herself.  Souls  cannot  be  saved  in  batches.  ~? 
But  to  each  and  all  it  may,  and  will,  come,  if 
'  they  have  courage,  and  fortitude,  and  the 
single  eye  which  refuses  illusion. 

"And  so  farewell,  yet  never  farewell,  my 
first,  and  last,  and  only  love,"  he  said,  looking 
at  the  osier-bound  grave,  while  the  shadows  of 
the  feathery  yew-trees  danced  and  beckoned 
upon  the  churchyard  grass.  "  There  have 
been  partings  before,  cruel  to  be  born ;  there 
may  be  partings  again,  but  they  will  be  transi- 
tory. I  am  not  afraid  that  I  shall  ever  lose 
you,  or  you  me.  I  am  secure  in  that. 
Meanwhile  for  your  sake,  O  dear  soul  of  me 


The  Gateless  Barrier     353 

—  for  so  indeed  you  are  —  I  will  make  the 
best  use  of  the  years  I  may  still  have  to  live 
here  on  earth.  And  since  you  once  were 
woman,  no  woman  shall  ever  suffer  at  my/-- 
hands  —  all  womanhood  being  sacred  thence- 
forth since  you  once  were  woman.  —  Now  the 
work  of  the  world  calls,  and,  God  helping  me, 
I  will  help  to  do  it.  After  all,  dear  love,  we 
go  forth  together,  —  amen." 

There  are  things  Virginia  does  not  quite 
comprehend  in  her  husband.  She  tells  the 
Van  Reenan  family,  that  "the  English  char- 
acter is  very  obscure."  But  she  has  had  no 
more  dramatic  moments  in  respect  of  that 
character.  She  pays  a  long  visit  yearly  to 
"  the  other  side,"  and  is  as  popular  as  ever. 
On  this  side  too  she  has  had  her  social 
triumphs.  The  yellow  drawing-room  at  Stoke 
Rivers  has  been  rebuilt,  but  Laurence  keeps 
it  for  his  own  use.  He  has  moved  the  books 
into  it  from  the  libraries,  thus  giving  Virginia 
a  large  suite  of  rooms  for  social  entertainments. 
Lately,  when  the  red  flame  of  war  threatened 
the  integrity  of  the  British  Empire,  Laurence 
went  south ;  and  for  a  time  lived  that  larger 

23 


354    The  Gateless  Barrier 

life —  in  which  woman  takes  her  place,  per- 
haps her  safest  one,  as  a  hope  or  a  memory 
merely  —  the  life  a  man  lives  among  men. 
Jack  Bellingham  volunteered  also.  He  thinks 
Laurence  a  better  fellow  than  ever ;  yet  is 
perplexed  at  moments  as  to  whether  he  has, 
or  has  not,  developed — like  so  many  of  his 
family  —  into  a  thorough-paced  crank. 


THE    END 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 


A     000  051  455     4 


